SAN FRANCISCO /California/, November 30. /TASS/. By stripping the RT TV channel of its accreditation in the US Congress, Washington has taken yet another step to sour bilateral relations, which proves that the foreign agent status hinders a media outlet’s activities, Russian Ambassador to the US Anatoly Antonov told reporters at San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel.

According to the ambassador, this is "another unfriendly step taken by the United States." "I would like to point out that we were told many times that RT’s registration as a foreign agent would not have any negative consequences, particularly as far the TV channel’s activities and its access to professional information are concerned," he added.

Antonov also said that "today’s decision is an apparent example of how actions differ from words." "A high-ranking official at the Department of State told us about it," he noted.

"I think, all these steps further aggravate Russian-US relations," Antonov stressed. "This is a direct violation of the fundamental principle of freedom of the press in the United States," the Russian ambassador said.

According to Chair of the Executive Committee of the Congressional Radio and Television Correspondents’ Galleries Craig Caplan, the committee "exercised its authority, as garnered by the rules of House of Senate, to withdraw the news credentials of the RT Network by unanimous vote on November 21, 2017." "This action was taken in response to the registration of RT Networks’ operating company, T&R Productions, LLC (T&R), as a foreign agent," he added.