MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/. There cannot be nor has there been any block on accessing Wikipedia, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

He pointed out that following a meeting of the Council on the Russian Language, chaired by President Vladimir Putin, different interpretations emerged of what he had said. "A public discussion began over Wikipedia and the Great Soviet Encyclopedia," Peskov specified. In his view, "Wikipedia is a popular and respected self-updated resource."

"What the president and some of the speakers [at the Council’s meeting] meant was that with all due respect, no one guarantees the credibility of information available on Wikipedia," Peskov emphasized. He pointed out that "the president highlighted the need to create an encyclopedia-style source of knowledge and make it accessible." "That’s what the Great Soviet Encyclopedia is," the Kremlin spokesman noted.

emphasized that "there cannot be, nor have there been any bans or restrictions on access to Wikipedia. According to him, it is enough to read the transcript of the Council on the Russian Language meeting on the Kremlin website to make sure of that.