Moscow 'Sorry Such Citadel of Democracy' as UK Supports Restricting Sputnik, RT

The United Kingdom violates media freedom, one of the fundamental democratic values, by criticizing Sputnik news agency and RT for allegedly spreading misleading information, Sergey Kalashnikov, a member of the Russian Federal Assembly’s Committee on information policy, said Friday, commenting on UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon’s statement.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Thursday, Fallon claimed Sputnik and RT needed to be "called out" for spreading "misleading" information regarding Syria and Ukraine.

"I am very sorry that such a citadel of world democracy as the United Kingdom has suddenly supported media restrictions. I believe that such statements do not correspond to the level of the minister of such country," Kalashnikov said.

He stressed that the freedom of the media was a "fundamental value."

It is not the first time when Western states want to restrict the activity of Sputnik and RT. On November 16, the European Parliament voted in favor of a resolution, which said that Sputnik and RT posed danger to Europe’s unity and called for extra European Commission funding for counter-propaganda projects. It also drew a parallel between Russian media and the propaganda disseminated by Daesh.

Russian President Vladimir Putin commented on the matter by pointing out that the document indicates a degradation of democracy in the West. Praising Sputnik and RT for their work, the president expressed hope that real media restrictions would not follow.