WASHINGTON, January 17. /TASS/. Moscow intends to come up with a tit-for-tat response, if the United States continues to use restrictive measures against Russian media outlets, the Russian Embassy in the US said in a statement on Wednesday.

"If restrictive measures against our media continue, we will provide a tit-for-tat response. That’s the way it will always be, no matter what sanctions we are threatened with," the embassy said on its Facebook page.

"On January 13, Russian journalists marked their professional holiday. In the United States, this event was marred for them by another decision by the authorities to force one more organization working with Russian media outlets to register as a foreign agent. <…> We regard this as the West’s inability to compete honestly in the information realm and the desire to strip citizens of access to an alternative point of view," the statement reads.

Actions by US Department of Justice

The Russian Embassy in Washington earlier reported that it became known on January 10 that RIA Global, a company that generates content for Sputnik [news agency], would be able to continue its operation only after it is registered as a foreign agent. The US Department of Justice issued the relevant document on January 5. It claimed that RIA Global was engaged in political activities in the United States in the interests of the Rossiya Segodnya news agency. Once registered, RIA Global will have to inform about its foreign agent status during its broadcasts.

Earlier, Russia’s RT America was put on the US list of foreign agents whereas no such demands were put forward for other foreign media, such as British BBC, Chinese CCTV and French France 24 TV.