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#4 - JRL 2008-211 - JRL Home
Russia's Putin to hold Q&A session as party leader in December

MOSCOW, November 18 (RIA Novosti) - Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will hold a live televised session with the public, his first as leader of the ruling pro-presidential United Russia party in December, a respected business daily said on Tuesday.

Putin, who agreed to head the United Russia party in May after stepping down as president, held six live televised question and answer sessions with the nation as head of state.

"I can confirm that Putin's broadcast is scheduled for December," Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Kommersant. "This session will continue the practice of live public TV sessions, but the format will change."

Russians will be able to ask Putin questions from regional offices, which will be selected prior to the Q&A session, in the country's seven federal districts.

The current president, Dmitry Medvedev, has not yet held any live TV sessions with the nation, but he runs a video blog on the official Kremlin website, the newspaper said.