SOCHI, October 19. /TASS/. Russia will offer immediate tit-for-tat reactions to the restrictions that Western countries may impose on Russian mass media, President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday at a session of the Valdai International Discussion Club, underway in Sochi.
"No one counts with weak partners, no one talks to them, no one regards their interests, and that's why we'll act strictly in a mirror-like manner in this case," Putin said. "As soon as we see specific steps to restrict the operations of our media, tit-for-tat responses will be quick to come."
As he commented on a position that implies ‘turning one cheek, then the other’ in response to carping on the part of the Anglo-Saxon world, he recalled the situation in the Russian nuclear industry.
"I already mentioned the nuclear facilities," Putin said. "One might think that once we had everted everything up to a dot, we could expect the same thing from our American partners - or at least we could expect they would take account of our interests and we’d be full-fledged partners for them."
"Still there was nothing of the kind, as you can see," he said. "It’s absolutely the other way round. As soon as they saw the nuclear sector needed more funding and reconstruction, the missile technologies were getting outmoded and some other things were not up to the point either, it all happened the other way round."
He called attention to the absence of global media in Russia contrary to the Western countries.
"Our [media] capabilities are incomparable to those of our US and European counterparts," Putin said. "We don’t have the media that would embrace the whole world. That’s the area of monopoly of the Anglo-Saxon world and, in the first place, the US"
He recalled in this connection that the West kept saying endlessly pressure on legally functioning media was undemocratic. On the contrary, to rebuff something you do not like, there can be only one democratic way, namely, to express your own opinion in a manner so bright and inventive that people would believe you, he said interpreting the West’s position.
"The events that we can see unfold around our media now - the media incomparable in terms of influence with the U.S. or British ones - are something I don’t even know a description for," Putin said. "Bewilderment is too mild a word. They’ve turned everything upside down."
Along with it, he said Western media did not stop short of wielding pressure in almost any country of the world where they were present.
Putin also praised the performance of RT staff, many members of which are American, British and German.
"They’re doing splendid work, they’re really talented people," he said. "Sometimes I get amazed by their courage and talent, especially when they present their materials with precision and courage. My hat’s off."