Moscow says it will ban all British news media, if London shuts down ‘Russia Today’

Amid talk that London might ban the Russian state media outlet RT over the nerve-agent attack against Sergey Skripal in Salisbury, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova threatened on Tuesday that Moscow will ban all British media in Russia, if RT’s press credentials are stripped in the UK. “Not a single British mass media outlet will operate in our country, if they close Russia Today,” Zakharova told reporters.

“No one person can go to their parliament and say, ‘I'm giving Russia 24 hours.’ What are they even talking about? Whom are they giving 24 hours? Twenty-four hours for what?” asked Zakharova.

On Tuesday, the media regulator Ofcom informed the owner of RT’s British broadcasting licenses that the Russian television network’s future in the UK depends on the investigation into the attempt on Sergey Skripal’s life.

British Prime Minister Theresa May has given Moscow until the end of March 13 to explain how a Russian nerve agent was used to poison former GRU Colonel Skripal, his daughter, and several others in Salisbury, England. The Russian government has denied any role in the attack, asking the British authorities to grant Russia access to Skripal’s medical data and any other case materials. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov says May’s allegations of Russian responsibility are “nonsense.”