Putin: If Washington imposes restrictions on Russian media Moscow will act swiftly

RT
Thu, 19 Oct 2017 17:40 UTC

Russia will swiftly implement tit-for-tat measures if the US imposes restrictions on Russian media, President Vladimir Putin said.

"We will act only symmetrically and quite swiftly," Putin said. "As soon as we see concrete steps limiting the activities of our mass media [in the US], a tit-for-tat response will follow immediately."

The Russian leader made the comments at the Valdai forum in Sochi, while responding to a question from Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of RT and Sputnik, about the US pressure on the Russian media.

What's happening to the Russian media in the US is confusing to say the least, Putin said.

"It has nothing to do with democracy," the president added.

"It's absurd, undemocratic to put pressure on any legally operating media outlets," Putin said.

"There's only one democratic method to fight what you don't like - be it the authorities or the opposition - it is to express your own view, but in such a bright, imaginative, talented fashion as to make people believe your point of view, follow your position, join your position. Everything else is undemocratic," he added.

Comment: Russian senators have presented a list of 5 U.S. media outlets that could be restricted in response, including CNN.

A source in the Federation Council, Russia's upper house of parliament, told the RBC business outlet that its committee on state sovereignty has blacklisted at least five US media organizations.

The list includes CNN, Voice of America and Radio Liberty, the source said. The names of the two other outlets have not been disclosed.

State sovereignty committee member Oleg Morozov told RBC that the list includes outlets that "receive foreign funding" and "interfere in Russia's domestic policy."

Morozov said the measures would reciprocate steps taken against Kremlin-funded RT and Radio Sputnik in the US, including limiting broadcasts and terminating existing contracts.

"If they take control of Russian employees' personal data, we will take control of the corresponding foreign media employees' personal data," he added.

The news comes a week after senators reportedly proposed to cut US media organizations to equal the number of Russian outlets in the US.

Federation Council state sovereignty committee head Andrei Klimov named CNN, Radio Liberty and Voice of America as likely targets to face the axe in Russia.

Other outlets at risk are The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Radio Liberty's Crimean project, according to diplomatic sources cited by the pro-Kremlin Izvestia daily.