LONDON, August 14. /TASS/. Moscow will issue a working visa to BBC journalist in Russia, Sarah Rainsford, if London does the same for the Russian correspondent, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova wrote on her Telegram channel on Saturday.
"Once the Russian correspondent is given a visa, Sarah will be given it, too. That is exactly what we suggested when calling on London to unblock the visa impasse for journalists," Zakharova said.
The words of Sarah Rainsford, BBC correspondent in Russia, that she was banned from entering Russia are manipulation, as the Russian side has never told her anything like, Maria Zakharova wrote.
"She has not been told such a thing. A journalist, even a British journalist, who has lived a third of her life - by her own estimation - in the Russian-speaking environment, should understand the difference between ‘never come back’ and ‘revoke a journalist visa and accreditation indefinitely.’ But we are used to this kind of manipulation with information," Zakharova said.
The decision not to renew BBC correspondent Sarah Rainsford’s visa was just a tit-for-tat measure, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman wrote.
"Let me emphasize again that the Russian measure (unlike the British imitative) is purely retaliatory. It has nothing to do with infringement of the freedom of expression," Zakharova stated.
The diplomat recalled that British officials attempted to link the Rainsford case to "a deteriorating situation with freedom of the media in the Russian Federation."
"We have to state that these statements are false," Zakharova stressed.