MOSCOW, February 11. /TASS/. Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov expressed regret that the Telegram messenger failed to comply with Russian legislation, which led to the decision to slow it down.

"I'm seeing and reading statements from Roskomnadzor (Federal Service for Supervision of Communications, Information Technology and Mass Media - TASS) about the decision to slow down Telegram's operations due to the fact that the company isn't complying with the requirements of Russian legislation. Well, it's a shame the company isn't complying [with the requirements], but there's a law that must be followed," he told TASS in an interview when commenting on the restrictions that have been imposed.

In his opinion, it would be better if Telegram and other restricted services complied with the requirements of Russian legislation.

Russia’s telecom watchdog said earlier that it would continue restricting the operation of Telegram until the messenger comes into compliance with Russian legislation, adding that it was open to working with any domestic and foreign internet resource as long as it respects Russian law and its citizens.