Vladimir Putin set for state of the union speech as election looms - NBC News

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MAR 1 2018, 4:00 AM ET

Vladimir Putin set for state of the union speech as election looms

by ALASTAIR JAMIESON

Vladimir Putin is expected to outline his plans for a fourth term as Russia’s president Thursday in his annual address to parliament.

Russians will cast their vote in just 17 days, but there has been little campaigning ahead of the election.

Polls suggest Putin, who has dominated Russian politics as president or prime minister for 18 years, is on track to be comfortably secure another six-year term.

He is likely to promise higher welfare and infrastructure spending in the annual address to lawmakers and other members of the political elite, Reuters reported.

He may also celebrate Russia's rising influence in the Middle East as it provides military support to Syria's government in that country's seven-year war.

The speech, which was delayed from the end of last year, is usually held in the Kremlin but has been switched to Moscow’s Manege building — an exhibition space in the city center — to accommodate a large screen for infographics, officials told the Moscow Times.

However, Putin was not expected to give specifics on his spending plans — such as how they might be funded.

"He will speak of the [policy] direction and the government should then propose how it should all work,” an unidentified senior government official told Reuters.

Almost 70 percent of Russians are ready to support Putin in the March 18 election, according to a poll published Thursday by state news agency, TASS.

Opposition leader Alexei Navalny has been barred from running in the election. He was arrested Jan. 28 moments before a protest march in Moscow.

Navalny wants voters to boycott the election, hoping low turnout will take the shine off Putin’s likely win.