(Al-Jazeera) A British bank has withdrawn banking services from Russia's state-owned news channel RT, drawing condemnation from Moscow.
The decision by NatWest, which is due to come into force in December, was announced on Monday morning by the news outlet's editor-in-chief Margarita Simonyan on her Twitter page. […]
While there was no evidence of British government involvement, the decision could result in reciprocal measures by Russian institutions against UK outlets, according to Paul Goode, a senior lecturer in Russian politics at Bath University.
"The Russian press is framing the move by NatWest as the beginning of a new round of western sanctions despite the Treasury's denial," Goode said.
"It's possible that there could be some pressure applied to BBC Moscow in retaliation, but the rationale and benefit are unclear aside from their PR value in domestic politics.
“Most Russians do not distinguish between western sanctions and Putin's own 'counter-sanctions', and they are unlikely to question the state media’s interpretation of this particular move." […]
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