Kremlin slams U.S. sanctions on Russian media: ‘unacceptable pressure’

The Kremlin has condemned the United States for imposing sanctions on Russian journalists and media outlets, accusing Washington of deliberately stifling Russia’s perspective on global events.

The reaction followed fresh U.S. sanctions targeting key figures in Russian state media, including the high-profile Editor-in-Chief of RT, Margarita Simonyan, and other top executives.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov did not mince words, stating, “Washington does not even accept that there should be options out there for anyone to get news from our perspective. This is nothing other than blatant pressure. We strongly condemn this stance as unacceptable.”

The U.S. sanctions, announced by the Department of the Treasury, come in response to alleged Russian attempts to influence the U.S. presidential election and violate sanctions tied to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. On Thursday, the Department of Justice went further, charging Russian media contributor Dimitri Simes and his wife Anastasia Simes with attempting to sidestep U.S. sanctions. Both were accused of receiving over $1 million in compensation for their work with Russia’s Channel One.

The latest sanctions have sparked renewed concerns in Washington about Russian disinformation campaigns ahead of the 2024 U.S. elections. In response, Peskov signaled that Russia would retaliate by imposing its own restrictions on U.S. media operating in the country. “There will certainly be measures here that will restrict their media disseminating their information,” he warned, adding that Russia’s response would consider how U.S. outlets have covered the ongoing war in Ukraine.

Though many U.S. media organizations have already withdrawn staff from Russia due to censorship laws imposed after the invasion, Peskov indicated Moscow’s grip on the flow of information was set to tighten further. In a rare acknowledgment, Peskov defended Russia’s heavy-handed control of the narrative. “In the state of war that we are in, restrictions are justified and censorship is also justified,” he said in comments to the state news agency TASS.

The latest developments reflect an escalating war of words, as both Washington and Moscow exchange accusations over media influence and information warfare. The Kremlin’s insistence that it is being unfairly silenced by the West is sure to stoke further tensions, as both sides brace for potential escalations in the propaganda battles surrounding the Ukraine conflict and U.S. elections.