Russia To 'Retaliate' After RT Accounts Frozen In France: Report

"The blocking of RT France accounts will lead to retaliatory measures against the French media in Russia," TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies quoted an anonymous foreign ministry source as saying.

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Source : AFP

New Delhi: Moscow will ‘retaliate’ against the French media in Russia after the bank accounts of RT France, the French arm of its state broadcaster, were frozen, news agency AFP reported.

"The blocking of RT France accounts will lead to retaliatory measures against the French media in Russia," TASS and RIA Novosti news agencies quoted an anonymous foreign ministry source as saying.

According to the sources, the measures "will be remembered", and accused Paris of "terrorising Russian journalists.

Earlier on Friday, the unions of RT France, that were already banned from broadcasting, said their accounts were frozen in the country.

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As per the AFP report, the French finance ministry said that the assets of the chain had been frozen in compliance with the most recent EU sanctions, and not on the initiative of Paris.

Unlike the initial sanctions decided after Moscow launched its Ukraine offensive, fresh EU measures that were adopted in December provided for an "asset freeze" of targeted entities, the ministry source further said.

Among those entities is "ANO TV Novosti, a parent company holding 100 percent of RT France", the source added, explaining the decision.

It is to be noted that RT was blocked in most Western countries after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine in February last year.

Meanwhile, Britain's Defence Secretary of Defence Ben Wallace on Thursday said that his country will send 600 Brimstone missiles to Ukraine to help President Volodymyr Zelensky in the war against Russia. The announcement came a day after North Atlantic Treaty Organization  (NATO) Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg called for "significant increase in support for Ukraine".

"If we want a negotiated peaceful solution tomorrow, we need to provide more weapons today," he said at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Wednesday.