Interfax: Putin may include far-reaching objectives in annual address to Federal Assembly in December

MOSCOW. Nov 20 (Interfax) – Russian President Vladimir Putin does not rule out that his annual address to the Federal Assembly he plans to deliver in December might contain objectives not only for the coming year but for a more distant future.

“I am holding a series of meetings with parliamentary factions and virtually with everyone, and this is related to preparations for the annual address to the Federal Assembly,” Putin said in opening a meeting with representatives of non-parliamentary parties on Wednesday.

Putin noted that participants in such meetings are traditionally expected to air proposals and ideas that could be included in the address. “This [the address] is not a purely formal act, although it is stipulated by the law, but it is an event that formulates our common work at least for the next year, and even more far-reaching goals may be set in the political, economic, and social sector,” he said.

Putin invited the participants in the meeting to share their proposals.