Putin vows 'tit-for-tat' response against US demands on RT

President Vladimir Putin says Russia would respond in kind to what he said were Washington's measures to restrict the freedom of speech of Russian media organisations operating on US soil.

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Danang, November 11, 2017.
AP

Russia's President Vladimir Putin attends the APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting in Danang, November 11, 2017.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday slammed Washington's demands for state channel RT to register as a foreign agent in the US as "an attack" on its media, while vowing a "tit-for-tat" response.

Kremlin-backed broadcaster Russia Today has been told to register in the United States as a "foreign agent" under the Foreign Agents Registration Act, which aims at lobbyists and lawyers representing foreign political interests.

"An attack on our media is an attack on freedom of speech," Putin told journalists at the APEC summit in Vietnam. 

"They went the route of de-facto closure (of RT)," Putin said. "There will be a proper tit-for-tat response."

"What is being discussed in the State Duma (lower house of parliament), I saw it yesterday, it might be a little too harsh but it's natural because at the level of the legislative arm you often hear extreme views, harsh judgment and tough proposals."

"But we will have to formulate some kind of response and it will mirror," the measures adopted by US authorities towards Russian media in the United States, Putin said. 

US intelligence officials say the broadcaster tried to influence the 2016 US presidential election on the Kremlin's behalf, an allegation the broadcaster and the Kremlin deny.

RT would go to court 

The Kremlin-backed broadcaster, formerly known as Russia Today, said earlier this week the US Department of Justice had given it until Monday to register its US operations as a foreign agent or see its head arrested and its accounts frozen.

RT said on Friday it would comply with the demands but would go to court to challenge the measure.

"We are disappointed, as they say in these situations," Putin said.

"There is not and cannot be any confirmation that our media was meddling," he said, adding that the money RT spent on ads was miniscule compared with the whole cost of the campaign.

"Media express a point of view," Putin said. "You can contest it but not by closing them down or creating conditions in which they cannot continue professional work."

RT and state-owned news agency Sputnik have been accused by US intelligence of spreading misinformation during the 2016 presidential campaign and election which may have influenced the vote's outcome.

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