Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the West is persecuting Russian journalists, days after Moscow banned dozens of American journalists from entering Russia, Reuters reported, quoted by BTA.
"In order to hide from inconvenient facts and from truthful information, the West, which is considered the standard of freedom, began to openly persecute Russian correspondents," Putin said in a statement published in the Mongolian newspaper Onoodor. ; on the eve of the Russian leader's visit to Mongolia.
Putin's statement was published after Moscow said on Wednesday it was banning 92 American citizens, including journalists and lawyers, from entering Russian territory because of Washington's Russophobic policies, according to Reuters.
Reuters also noted that the statement came after years of Kremlin repression of independent media and blocking of dissenting voices in Russian media following the invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces in 2022.
Putin said that the media is free in Russia.
"The only requirement for them is to comply with Russian legislation. Foreign correspondents who are accredited in our country should be aware of this," the Russian president pointed out.
Russia often accuses Western countries of imposing unfair restrictions on its media abroad, Reuters notes.
Putin's statement to the Mongolian paper also said that Russian journalists face "direct censorship" in almost all western countries.
"The only thing that our media does is convincingly present the Russian point of view on the current problems of our time and on the processes taking place in the world," Putin points out.