MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Tuesday, Latvian authorities notified the Sputnik news agency, a subsidiary of Rossiya Segodnya, of suspending its dissemination within the.lv domain zone found in purported violation of EU regulation. Later in the day, the Latvian Foreign Ministry said that the suspension was linked to Kiselev being on the EU sanctions list.
"This decision is beyond the boundaries of limitations imposed against me personally. The Latvian authorities’ free treatment of the EU decisions is panic beyond the boundaries of legal field. As far as I am concerned, I can’t even remember ever mentioning Latvia in my comments," Kiselev told RIA Novosti.
The European Union imposed individual sanctions against Kiselev on March 21, 2014, when it added him to the list of persons who, according to its opinion, are threatening Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called Latvia’s move "blatant censorship."