Britain Targets Russian Media

by Stephen Lendman

Britain, America and other Western nations disgracefully consider real news, information and analysis Russian media provide propaganda - in other words, anything exposing their destructive agenda truthfully.

Britain is obstructing Russia's international news agency Rossiya Segodnya (RS). On orders from Whitehall, Barclays bank froze its account unjustifiably without explanation.

RS was founded in December 2013 - incorporating the former RIA Novosti news service and Voice of Russia international radio. In November 2014, RS launched Sputnik News and Radio Sputnik.

Dmitry Kiselyov heads RS. He blasted what happened - calling it "censorship. To close the account of one of the world's leading news agencies…direct(ly) obstruct(s) journalists' work," he said.

"What kind of press freedom and democracy can Britain claim to have if it prevents one of the world's largest news agencies from working in the country?"

A Barclays source said Britain's Exchequer put Kiselyov on an anti-Russian sanctions list. RS editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan (serving in the same capacity for RT International) called it "illegal."

"The sanctions imply that Kiselyov cannot travel to Europe and have bank accounts there," she said. "No sanctions were imposed on Rossiya Segodnya news agency."

Kiselyov is on the EU sanctions list - a shameless one for fabricated reasons pertaining to nonexistent "Russian aggression" in Ukraine and Crimeans reversing a historic error by near unanimously voting to rejoin Russia. No annexation occurred.

Kiselyov is irresponsibly called a "central figure of the government propaganda supporting the (nonexistent) deployment of Russian forces in Ukraine."

He's in good company with top Russian officials, including:

Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin

Upper House Federation Council Speaker Valentina Matviyenko

Lower House State Duma Speaker Sergei Naryshkin

Putin advisor Sergey Glazyev

Black Sea Fleet Commander Admiral Alexander Nosatov

His deputy Valery Kulikov, among others.

Weeks earlier, France and Belgium extended EU sanctions through January and froze Russian assets at the same time.

The timing wasn't coincidental - on day one of the 19th St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF) - an impressive three-day event attracting thousands of participants - including world political and business leaders, journalists and others from dozens of countries worldwide.

France targeted VTB, Russia's second largest bank. Diplomatic accounts were frozen, then unlocked. Rossiya Segodnya international news agency's bank accounts were seized.

Belgium seized Russian assets - At the same time, its authorities seized Russian assets - including its Embassy's and Permanent UN Mission accounts.

The action relates to contested Russian debt former Yukos Oil owners claim they're owed. The company declared bankruptcy after Moscow demanded it pay back taxes evaded for years.

At the time, Russia's Justice Minister Aleksandr Konovalov said freezing Russian assets is "a blatant violation of international law." Russia's Foreign Ministry called Belgium's actions "an unfriendly act…a blatant (international law) violation." It indicated retaliatory measures may follow if what happened wasn't reversed.

Putin aide Andrey Belousov called actions by France and Belgium politicized. "Moscow hopes to avoid a new escalation in relations," he said. At the same time, it's "considering a number of measures to deal with" what happened if things aren't resolved responsibly.

These and other actions by European countries and America target Russia irresponsibly for fabricated reasons.

Attempts to isolate and weaken it haven't worked. The just concluded July 8 - 10 BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) summits in Ufa, Russia reflect a new (mainly Eurasian) Silk World Order challenging Western dominance and the dollar as the world's reserve currency - a testimony to multi-world polarity.

The New Development Bank (NDB) was launched as an alternative to predatory Western financial institutions - capitalized with 0 billion for starters.

Vnesheconombank CEO Vladimir Dmitriev said "(t)he decision was made to create a financial institution which is to support economic development in BRICS countries. I would rather say that it’s a complimentary vehicle to be focused specifically on the development of BRICS countries."

Transactions increasingly will be in local currencies, bypassing dollar dominance. NBD joins the SCO Development Bank and Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

Maybe others to come as alternatives to predatory IMF, World Bank and other Western financial institutions. They represent an idea whose time has come.

So do vital sources of news, information and analysis like Rossiya Segodnya (including Sputnik News) and RT International telling viewers and listeners what they need to know on major issues - what Western media suppress.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanIII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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