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Kremlin expects Kiev to change its policy towards Russian media

The Kremlin spokesman has commented on Kiev’s recent decisions to bar journalists from Russia’s Zvezda and NTV television from entering Ukraine
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov Mikhail Metzel/TASS
Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov
© Mikhail Metzel/TASS

MOSCOW, December 17. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov hopes that Kiev will change its policy with regard to Russian media after remarks by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky who invited Russian journalists to come to his country.

"We took note of President [Zelensky’s] words at a news conference. We would be glad, if the current practice with regard to Russian journalists was revised after these remarks," Peskov said commenting on Kiev’s recent decisions to bar journalists from Russia’s Zvezda and NTV television from entering Ukraine.

The Kremlin spokesman emphasized that this practice was out of sync with international standards and OSCE norms. "Russian journalists have been stripped of the opportunity to work in Ukraine on a permanent and even on a temporary basis. We do hope that some changes will gradually take place, and those Russian TV channels, which will want to receive first-hand information on what is going on in Ukraine, will get an opportunity to do so."

Peskov noted that all interested Ukrainian media outlets had been able to work under Russia’s law on mass media, which gives equal rights to both Russian and foreign media. "It is very important to remember that," he stressed, adding that Ukrainian journalists "have not stopped their work here [in Russia] and are free to fulfill their duties."

On December 16, Kiev barred journalists working for Russia’s Zvezda TV channel who visited Ukraine last week from entering the country for three years. On Monday, Alexei Chebotarev, a correspondent of Russia’s NTV channel, was likewise banned from entering Ukraine. NTV journalists Alexandra Tonkikh and Sergei Savin were earlier denied entry to the country. According to NTV, Tonkikh was denied entry because she visited Crimea in 2016. Both Savin and Chebotarev "failed to confirm" the purpose of their visits to Kiev.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky urged Russian journalists to come to Ukraine and see the situation in the country with their own eyes at the Normandy Four (Germany, Russia, Ukraine and France) summit held on December 9. Russian reporters have been denied entry to the country over the past few years.