A senior lawmaker says the State Duma could bar U.S. media from accessing the lower chamber of Russian parliament in retaliation for the withdrawal of a Kremlin-funded television station’s credentials in the United States.
Olga Savastyanova told Russian news agencies on Friday that she expects the Duma to adopt the ban next week. Foreign correspondents in Russia can currently access the Russian parliament and some government agencies with their press credentials issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry.
A committee that governs Capitol Hill access for broadcast journalists on Wednesday withdrew credentials for Kremlin-funded RT after the company complied earlier this month with a U.S. demand that it register under the Foreign Agents Registration Act. Russia has denounced the move as a violation of media freedom.
