US State Department: Kremlin Engaged In “Full Assault On Media Freedom”

The United States continues to issue visas to qualified Russian journalists and has not revoked credentials of any Russian journalists working in the country, the State Department said on Monday, adding that the Kremlin was engaged in a “full assault on media freedom.”

The comments came after reports on Monday that Russia had warned US news organizations they risked being stripped of their accreditation and expelled unless the treatment of Russian journalists in the US improved.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told around a dozen journalists in Moscow from various American news outlets, including CNN, the Associated Press, NBC, the Washington Post, ABC and NPR, that unless the “rights” of Russian media in the US were “restored,” the “same measures will affect you.”

Reacting to the comments, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the Kremlin continues to make a “false equivalency” between press freedoms in the US and the media landscape in Russia — where independent, accurate reporting on the war in Ukraine is effectively criminalized and journalists who air “false information” face stiff sentences.

Price noted that the US has sanctioned several Russian media outlets, including Russia 1, Channel One and NTV, because they are “directly or indirectly state-owned and state-controlled media within Russia, and the revenues from which support President Putin’s war.”

In the meeting with journalists on Monday, Zakharova alleged that Russian reporters were facing issues in the US ranging from visa renewals to accreditation, blocked bank accounts and alleged harassment by US special services. She told US media representatives that unless American authorities took action, then the journalists would have to leave Russia. بوكر حقيقي

“If this is their (US government) final decision, then guys, you’ll have to pack up and go home. كيفية لعب البوكر We’ll block you all here, we’ll take away your visas and so on,” the spokeswoman said.