Ex-Russian Ambassador to US Kislyak Surprised by US Efforts to Track Sputnik, RT

Sergei Kislyak, who has just finished his mission as a Russian ambassador to the United States, said on Saturday that he was surprised by the steps taken by Washington targeting such news outlets as Sputnik and RT.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Wednesday, the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF) launched the Hamilton 68 platform tracking the news outlets allegedly disseminating Russian propaganda. The platform intends to focus on RT and Sputnik, as well as hundreds of other Twitter accounts it considers to be promoting Moscow's point of view, amid increased attacks on Russian media

"A tool after tool is being created to counter RT and Sputnik that have become regarded as almost a threat of a hybrid invasion in many countries. It is surprising," Kislyak told the Russian Rossiya 24 broadcaster.

The Russian diplomat added that he had not expected that the level of the western countries' capabilities to articulate threats would be at such a low level.

The intense scrutiny of RT and Sputnik comes amid continuing allegations that Moscow had influenced the recent presidential election in the United States. Senior Russian officials have repeatedly denied such interference and stated that Moscow refrains from meddling in internal affairs of foreign countries.

In November 2016, the European Parliament passed a resolution where it described the two media outlets as a threat to Europe’s unity and drew a parallel between them and propaganda disseminated by Islamic State, a terrorist group outlawed in many countries, including Russia.