ST. PETERSBURG, June 5. /TASS/. Russia’s law on foreign agents is way more lenient than its US counterpart, Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with heads of world news agencies on Friday.
During the event, organized by TASS on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF), Putin said Russia was not the first country to introduce this type of legislation.
"It was invented by the United States many years ago, during the previous century. There is nothing original about our actions," the president continued. "Our law on foreign agents <…> is way more lenient than in the US, if you compare the texts of both laws."
"Our law is aimed solely at limiting interference in domestic affairs, just like it is done by many other countries," Putin added. "And we will keep doing this in the future. We will try to reduce interference into our internal affairs to the minimal level. We see nothing unusual and nothing to be ashamed of here."
Answering to a question about alleged persecution of journalists in Russia, asked by Chief Executive Officer of Deutsche Presse-Agentur (DPA) Peter Kropsch, Putin disagreed with the German journalist’s point of view, adding that Russian media express various opinions and criticism, including of the Russian government and president.
"If you just look at expressions they sometimes use, it will become clear to you how free our [public] discussion is, including on political issues," the Russian leader said.
"But we have questions about what is happening to our journalists in some [foreign] countries. In fact, Russian journalists are under pressure, they are persecuted, channels are closed, their activities are limited administratively and financially," he continued. "In fact, they are strangling our channels. Financial institutions are de-facto prohibited from working with them.".