MOSCOW, October 21. /TASS/. Journalists from unfriendly countries will be able to attend Russian President Vladimir Putin’s annual press conference, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told TASS.

"They will attend. Yes, [we will invite them] -- as we always do," he said when asked whether media outlets from unfriendly countries would be invited to the event.

This year, the president’s annual year-end press conference will once again be combined with the Direct Line call-in show. The format has been used for several years and is known as "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin: Year in Review." As Peskov told TASS, the event is scheduled for December.

This year will mark the fifth time that Putin’s annual press conference and Direct Line call-in show have been held jointly. The format was first tested in 2020, when the pandemic made it impossible to hold the events separately. It was revived in 2023 under the title "Direct Line with Vladimir Putin: Year in Review."

Since 2001, excluding combined events, the Direct Line call-in show has been held 18 times and the annual press conference 16 times. Putin has held the Direct Line with Russians not only as president but also while serving as prime minister.