"The party of democratic President Macron democratically advised French media 'not to spread the information' of RT and Sputnik because we had no particular love for their candidate. I had a somewhat different idea of democratic values," Simonyan told RT.
Ferrand's communique accused RT and Sputnik of spreading "the most slanderous rumors" about Macron, adding that the two websites served as an "intermediary" for all attacks on Macron, including the threats of Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' founder.
During his joint press conference with Russian President Vladimir Putin in May, Macron said that RT and Sputnik had been spreading lies about himself personally and his campaign during the recent presidential campaign. Simonyan has stressed that not a single example of spreading misinformation by the Russian media was ever provided by Macron's team. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov also said that there had been no facts proving these accusations.
RT reporters were denied entry to the headquarters of then-French presidential candidate Macron twice in April, and on May 7, a Sputnik reporter was not allowed to enter the square in front of Paris' Louvre museum, where Macron and his supporters were celebrating the victory in the presidential run-off.
