For the second time since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Vladimir Putin has canceled his address to Russians - a move analysts say underscores weakness and confusion in the Kremlin.
In 2025, Putin will not deliver his annual address to the “so-called” Federal Assembly, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told the newspaper Vedomosti. He said the decision was made personally by Putin.
Officially, the Kremlin insists that “everything will take place in due time.” In practice, Russia is going without the head of state’s key policy speech for the second time since the war began.
Experts say Russia’s leadership appears adrift. After four years of war, they argue, Putin has neither a plan nor words he can present publicly. Sanctions are squeezing the Russian economy, battlefield gains are modest, and efforts to force Ukraine’s capitulation have failed.
Under Article 84 of the Russian Constitution, the president is required to deliver an annual address to the Federal Assembly outlining the main directions of domestic and foreign policy. In practice, that provision has long become a hollow formality.
Putin first skipped the address in 2017. In 2022, the year he ordered the invasion of Ukraine, the speech also did not take place. He said at the time that events were “too dynamic” and that it was “somewhat difficult” to set out plans.
The address has traditionally been a carefully choreographed event in which Putin spoke only about what he felt confident in. If the show is canceled, analysts say, that confidence is gone.
With the economy under sanctions, a war that has dragged on, no promised “quick victories,” dwindling mobilization reserves, and a foreign policy reduced to threats and ultimatums, any public address risks becoming either a string of empty slogans or an admission of failure. Putin appears ready for neither.
