Members of Russia's Kremlin press corps accompanying Vladimir Putin on his trip to the CIS summit in Minsk, Belarus' capital, left the conference venue Tuesday in solidarity with non-government reporters denied entry by the organizers.
The scandal overshadowed the annual meeting of leaders of the Commonwealth of Independent States, the biggest post-Soviet alliance which celebrates its 15th anniversary this year.
"The president [of Belarus] told me it was a misunderstanding, a procedural mistake," Putin said. "I believe this will clear up soon."
Three correspondents, accredited to cover the summit for the Moscow-based tabloid Moskovsky Komsomolets (MK) and popular business daily Kommersant, were not allowed into the National Library where the CIS leaders were holding their meeting.
According to an official explanation voiced by presidential spokesman Pavel Lekhky, two MK journalists and a Kommersant photographer were barred from the event for allegedly disparaging articles they had written about Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, dubbed Europe's last dictator by Washington.
"One of the reasons for denying access was the offense to the Belarusian head of state and the systematic offense to Belarus," he said.
Kommersant Editor Andrei Vasilyev said the incident was "shameful to Belarus" and applauded the Kremlin press corps' support for their colleagues.
"We will not write anything about the summit, of course," Vasilyev said.
The distribution of MK and the publication of the paper's local version have been banned in the ex-Soviet republic for several years, according to MK Editor Pavel Gusev.
