MOSCOW, December 22. /TASS/. Moscow does not rule out a tit-for-tat response to the West’s blocking of Russian media outlets though it has never sought to strangle the media, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in an interview with the RT TV channel.

"We have repeatedly said that there is discrimination against Russian media outlets and we were tempted at times to reciprocate, but until recently, we were still convinced that on this score we didn’t want to go down the path that our Western partners are treading, that of strangling the media," Lavrov pointed out. "However, as you know, as with ensuring Russia’s security, everyone’s patience has its limits. This is why I don’t rule out that we will have to respond if this unacceptable situation persists," he cautioned.

"I certainly view the situation in Germany as outrageous because from the very beginning, the German authorities - I would like to emphasize that it was the authorities, though some officials tried to stay away from what the so-called regulators did - they did everything to create a negative image of the TV channel in German society and among German government bodies," Lavrov stressed.

"Our colleagues have now registered the German-language RT DE TV channel in Serbia in accordance with the European convention on broadcasting, of which Germany is a member so it needs to comply with it. However, it seems that the blame will once again be put on social media, on YouTube, they will say that it was their own initiative as they have their own criteria and the German state has nothing to do with it. But it has. It does have something to do with it, because all the obligations that require ensuring freedom of access to information, they signed and assumed these obligations, not YouTube, but the [German] state. So, the government on whose territory such arbitrariness is taking place shoulders the responsibility to put an end to it," the Russian top diplomat specified.

According to earlier reports, the German media regulator had launched an investigation against RT on suspicion of violating Germany’s broadcasting rules. The DPA news agency reported that the TV channel might face a broadcast ban or a fine of up to 500,000 euro once the investigation was over. On December 16, the RT TV channel said that YouTube had blocked the account of RT’s new German-language channel on the day of its launch. On Friday, Russia’s telecom watchdog demanded that Google lift restrictions against RT Deutsch on YouTube.