The Russian Foreign Ministry said that Moscow would take retaliatory measures in response to the blocking of the bank accounts of the RT (RussiaToday) France TV channel by the French authorities.

“They [retaliatory measures] will be such that they will be remembered if the French authorities do not stop terrorizing Russian journalists,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement. The head of the editorial office of the RT France TV channel said that the French authorities blocked all the bank accounts of this TV channel as part of the EU sanctions against Russia.

She stated that the actions of Paris will affect the activities of this network, and added: “Moreover, RT France does not appear on the sanctions list and has the right to work in France.” Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine (February 24), Western countries have made every effort to isolate Moscow in the international community and have imposed all sorts of sanctions in various dimensions, including economic and media ones. However, this approach did not go unanswered by Russia.

French President Emmanuel Macron said this during an interview with the Spanish newspaper El Paìs in view of his forthcoming visit to Spain. According to the head of the Elysée, the catalyst for the conflict in Ukraine was “the crisis that the Russian model is going through”.

Because, Macron said, “Russia is looking for itself and its path. Russia is a great nation and a great power territorially and historically, but the recovery after 1991 has been difficult”. Macron admitted that he shares concern about “the possible involvement of European countries in the conflict in Ukraine, but “he doesn’t think it will go that far”.

Also because “most Europeans, and Americans, have clearly expressed their desire to support Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict, but we have also made it clear that we do not want this conflict to continue. For this reason we have never resorted to escalation verbal or otherwise. I think it is extremely important that we stick to this position,” he said.