Russian President Vladimir Putin's address to the Federal Assembly has become his longest.
This year, Putin spoke for 2 hours and 20 minutes. The previous record stood at 1 hour 55 minutes in 2018. Putin gave his shortest speeches in 2004 and 2005 — they were about 48 minutes long.
Earlier, Kremlins official spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that Putin was delivering his Address to the Federal Assembly both as the current head of state and as a presidential candidate in the upcoming elections. Putin's speech on February 29 contains theses of his election program, Peskov said.
The President delivers annual Address to the Federal Assembly in accordance with Article 84 of the Russian Constitution. This is a programmatic and political document in which the head of state outlines Russia's development vectors for the coming years and sums up the results of the past year, announces reforms and explains Russia's actions within the framework of international politics.