MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. The Kremlin understands the initiative of a State Duma committee to introduce a ban on entering the lower house’s building for journalists representing US mass media, Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
"We absolutely understand this," Peskov told reporters.
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Earlier, Chair of the State Duma Committee for Control and Regulations Olga Savastyanova said that the committee will propose the lower house to ban all American news outlets from visiting it in response to the withdrawal of RT’s credentials in the US Congress. The initiative is expected to be submitted to the Duma’s Council on December 5.
The Kremlin spokesman said the State Duma should specify a particular list of mass media outlets that are due to be stripped of credentials in the parliament. "Certainly, this refers to the US mass media as such blatant attacks against foreign mass media, in particular Russian, come in violation of global practice of the freedom of speech, and unfortunately, they blossom in the US," he noted.
On Wednesday, Radio and Television Correspondents’ Association (RTCA) Chairperson Craig Caplan informed RT that its Capitol Hill credentials had been rescinded. He stressed that this particular decision was taken on November 21 after a unanimous vote in the committee because the T&R Productions, LLC (T&R) company that services the RT American branch is registered as a foreign agent in the US.