Pavel Durov, the Telegram boss arrested in France, was "too loose" in its approach to managing the social media platform and that was its downfall, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Monday, quoted by "Reuters".
Last week, a French judge placed Russian-born Durov under formal investigation on suspicion of complicity in running an online platform that allowed illegal transactions, images of child sexual abuse, drug trafficking and fraud.
His lawyer said it was "absurd" to suggest that he should be held responsible for any crimes committed on the app, which has nearly 1 billion users and is widely popular in Russia, Ukraine and other former Soviet countries.
Lavrov, in a speech to students at Moscow's elite foreign ministry-run MGIMO University, reiterated the Kremlin's position that the investigation into Durov is part of a larger political ploy by the West to exert power over Russia.
"Pavel Durov was too free,", Lavrov said. "He did not heed Western advice to moderate his imagination."
Russia, after years of pressure on Durov and his technology ventures, rallied behind him.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said last week that there had been no talks between the Kremlin and Durov, who also holds passports from France and the United Arab Emirates.
"The main thing is that what is happening in France does not turn into a political persecution," Peskov said last Thursday.
"We know that the president of France has denied any connection to the case with politics, but on the other hand certain accusations are being made.
French President Emmanuel Macron has denied any political motives in the tech entrepreneur's detention.
Lavrov previously warned that Durov's arrest - the first arrest of a major tech CEO - had brought relations between Moscow and Paris to a new low.