Vladimir Putin will deliver a message to parliament at the end of February – beginning of March

The announcement of the president’s message to the Federal Assembly is planned for the period between February 23 and March 8, say four Kommersant sources close to the presidential administration (AP). The end of February is mainly being discussed, but the date may move slightly, they explain. As in 2018 (then the head of state spoke to parliamentarians on March 1), the message, in fact, will play the role of the election program of presidential candidate Putin. Although the final content of the document is still unknown, according to sources, it will most likely include the main semantic lines that Mr. Putin has repeatedly touched upon in his speeches: these are, in particular, Russia’s goals in a special military operation (SVO), the country’s sovereignty, her socio-economic future and family values.

Let us recall that in 2018 the presidential elections were held on March 18, and Vladimir Putin announced his message to the Federal Assembly on March 1. This year, voting in the presidential elections will last three days – from March 15 to 17, and the speech before parliamentarians should again take place before the elections, but its specific date has not yet been determined, Kommersant’s sources say. So far, according to them, the end of February is being discussed, but the date may move to the beginning of March (but until March 8). Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov, answering a corresponding question from journalists on February 2, confirmed only that “the preparation (of the message) “Kommersant”) is underway,” and promised to “inform in a timely manner” about the timing of its announcement (quote from TASS).

Addressing parliament with annual messages is one of the constitutional duties of the president and is formally in no way connected with elections. But the upcoming speech fits well into the overall campaign strategy of candidate Putin: he carries out a minimum of purely campaigning events, preferring to fulfill his current duties as head of state and make working trips to the regions, communicating with representatives of different social groups. Let us remember that the president usually does not participate in pre-election debates.

Kommersant’s interlocutors speak extremely carefully about the possible content of the 2024 message, recalling that the president personally works on its text until the very last moment. But one of the key topics, according to their assumptions, will be Russian sovereignty—“technological, scientific, military,” explains one of the sources. In addition, the president will apparently touch on those topics that he emphasized in recent speeches. Thus, according to sources, Vladimir Putin is unlikely to ignore the topic of the SVO: “Most likely, it will be said about the results achieved and its goals. It’s unlikely that the date for its completion will be announced, but the talk will be that Russia is seeking the security of its cities” (Mr. Putin spoke about his intention to create a demilitarized zone for this at a meeting with his confidants on January 31. – “Kommersant”).

Also, Kommersant’s interlocutors are waiting for the topic of the future to be mentioned, and in a very specific way: the president can talk about the positive indicators of economic development of the Russian Federation and about national projects, which citizens are now actively informed about. According to sources, presidential aide Maxim Oreshkin is also working on this part of the message. Vladimir Putin has raised the topic of Russian achievements in the economy more than once recently: for example, at a meeting with Far Eastern businessmen in Khabarovsk on January 11, he noted that in terms of purchasing power parity, Russia has overtaken Germany and has taken first place in Europe.

The president is also expected to speak on the topic of demography and large families, which he has also regularly touched upon in recent speeches. For example, on January 23, at the “Family and Loved Ones” forum, Vladimir Putin spoke about the importance of family values ​​and about Russia as a huge family – “a family of families.” And earlier, at the final press conference on December 23, combined with a direct line, the head of state promised to include the topic of modernizing primary healthcare in his election program.

Let us note that Vladimir Putin spoke a lot about the successes already achieved (for example, in the fight against poverty and in supporting demographics) and plans for the near future (including Russia’s desire to gain a foothold in the top five largest economies in the world) in his 2018 address. But the most resonant part of the speech at that time was its final part, about which there had been no leaks in the media before: it talked about the latest types of weapons being developed in Russia; The president’s words were accompanied by videos. “We will consider any use of nuclear weapons against Russia or its allies as a nuclear attack on our country. The answer will be immediate and with all the ensuing consequences,” Vladimir Putin said then.

Andrey Vinokurov