ST. PETERSBURG, September 24 /TASS/. Moscow is surprised that the United States has not condemned Ukraine for imposing sanctions on Russian and foreign journalists, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
"As a rule, our partners willingly criticize the leaderships of other countries if there’s the slightest ground to suspect them of encroaching on freedom of expression and freedom of the media," Zakharova stressed.
"It is strange that they did not find words to condemn the authorities in Kiev who had recently adopted a new sanctions list, which includes dozens of Russian and foreign journalists," the Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson went on to say.
- Ukraine obliges journalists and human rights activists to obtain permits to enter Crimea
- Russian parliament speaker calls sanctions on journalists absolutely unacceptable
- Poroshenko cancels sanctions against 6 European journalists
- Kiev should lift sanctions against all reporters — Committee to Protect Journalists
- Council of Europe calls on Kiev to cancel sanctions against journalists
- Kiev’s blacklisting journalists threatens freedom of press — Reporters Without Borders
- OSCE urges Poroshenko to exclude journalists from sanctions list
"After that, the question arises whether Washington’s remarks about true support of pluralism and calls for unbiased journalism based on facts in a democratic society are adequate," Zakharova stressed.
She added that Ukraine’s new sanctions were a gross violation by the Ukrainian authorities of their own commitment to ensure freedom of expression and freedom of the media.
Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko decided to extend Ukraine’s sanctions list against Russian nationals on September 16.
Ukraine will block the assets of people included in the sanctions list and impose temporary restrictions on their right to use or dispose of their property; it will also suspend the implementation of economic and financial liabilities /concerning loans, credits, financial aid and guarantees; as well as bans on the purchase and acquisition of securities/.
Ukraine’s blacklist includes three TASS correspondents: Andrey Shitov (Washington), Alexander Nechayev, the head of TASS bureau in South Africa; and Andrei Surzhansky, an employee of TASS department of European countries.
Alyona Palazhchenko, a RIA Novosti correspondent in Turkey, was put on Ukraine’s blacklist along with Dmitry Kiselyov, the director general of the Rossiya Segodnya media holding.
Journalists of the RUPTLY video news agency; the NTV channel; Channel One and RT as well as newspapers Izvestia and Rossiyskaya Gazeta and Vzglyad.ru also came under Ukrainian sanctions.