Annual press conference of President Vladimir Putin (ONLINE)

The event started at 12:00 Moscow time - in a live face-to-face format. Last year, due to the coronavirus pandemic, the head of state contacted the press from his Novo-Ogarevo residence, journalists asked questions to Putin via video link.

Some restrictions due to coronavirus in 2021 remain. To enter the event, journalists need to present three negative PCR tests for coronavirus. Social distance must also be respected.

Briefing transcript.

As the presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov previously admitted, such measures are forced. "These are the inconveniences with which we now live, most likely, for a long time," - said Dmitry Peskov.

On the eve of the event, the list of participants in the President's annual press conference was announced. It included 507 journalists from Russian and foreign publications. This year, the Kremlin itself chose which media will be present, there was no accreditation. Novaya Gazeta, headed by Nobel laureate Dmitry Muratov, was not invited to the briefing. “We could not invite everyone, because we have very strict restrictions on the part of Rospotrebnadzor,” Dmitry Peskov commented on the situation.

Recall that Vladimir has been meeting with the press in the format of a large press conference every year since 2001. The break was made only for the period when he served as prime minister - from May 2008 to May 2012.