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Western media prohibited from interviewing Russian officials, MFA spokeswoman says

Such incidents had taken place following requests from German and Spanish reporters, Maria Zakharova specified

MOSCOW, May 4. /TASS/. Western media outlets are prohibited from interviewing Russian officials, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told the Sputnik radio station on Wednesday.

"When [Western media outlets] request an interview and we start to make preparations in terms of logistics, deciding on the time, the format of the event and other things, it suddenly turns out - and the reporters tell us about it - that they have been prohibited from interviewing Russia’s representatives," she noted.

Zakharova pointed out that such incidents had taken place following requests from German and Spanish reporters. "We geared up for an interview and prepared answers to the questions from a major Spanish agency, but they backpedaled," the Russian diplomat said.

The Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman stressed that the trend had become a new reality. "We saw an attitude like this on a regular basis in the past, when we had to deal with some adjustments with some parts cut out and taken off the air as they cited technical specifications," Zakharova emphasized.

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Russian Foreign Ministry Media freedom Maria Zakharova

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