MOSCOW, January 17. /TASS/. Russia reserves the right to respond if the German side continues the practice of exerting pressure on the Russian mass media working in Germany, the Russian foreign ministry said on Monday ahead of talks between the two countries’ top diplomats.

"If the German side doesn’t drop the practice of exerting pressure on the Russian mass media in Germany, we reserve the right to take responsive measures against German media working in Russia," it said.

According to the ministry, it has to state with profound regret that despite the repeated public warnings and clear signals via diplomatic channels, official Berlin continues to hamper the activities of the Russian ANO TV-Novosti media holding and its German-language TV desk operating under the RT DE brand name on political grounds.

"Since its launch on December 16, 2021, the German authorities have taken several steps to squeeze RT DE out of Germany’s information space. As a result, RT DE satellite broadcasting has been partially blocked and its channel has been removed from YouTube," the ministry said. "We consider these steps as Berlin’s blatant violation of its international commitments to the freedom of speech and the mass media and as deliberately unfriendly actions against Russia".