Putin reportedly to address Russia’s Federal Assembly in late February or early March

Vladimir Putin plans to address Russia’s Federal Assembly in late February or early March, the newspaper Kommersant reported on Tuesday, citing four sources close to the Russian president’s administration.

The sources said that while an exact date has not been chosen, the speech will come before the country’s presidential election, which is scheduled for March 15–17. They said the dates currently under discussion are in late February but that the address may be pushed back to March (but before March 8).

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on February 2 that preparations for the address are indeed “underway.”

According to Kommersant, the address to lawmakers will be part of Putin’s reelection campaign. The outlet’s sources expect the president to talk about Russia’s “technological, academic, and military” sovereignty, the “special military operation,” the country’s economy, and its demographic situation.