Russian President Vladimir Putin may visit the regions annexed by Ukraine by the end of the year. This was stated to RIA Novosti by the press secretary of the head of state Dmitry Peskov.
He indicated that the visit is not yet scheduled in the head of state's schedule. However, it cannot be completely ruled out, the press secretary added.
"There is no exact schedule yet, but it cannot be ruled out", Dmitry Peskov replied.
The territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, as well as the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, became part of Russia in the fall of 2022 after referendums in September of that year.
At the end of October, the Secretary of the Russian Security Council and President of the Russian Geographical Society, Sergei Shoigu, called for Donbass and Novorossiya not to be called new regions, as these are "old regions that are historically Russian".
In recent months, Putin has also emphasized that the regions annexed by Ukraine are "historically Russian".