The Russian Foreign Ministry has vowed to respond in kind after the British Conservative Party barred Sputnik from its conference.
The statement comes in response to an email that the Tories sent to Sputnik at the very last moment, saying that “a media accreditation hasn’t been granted”, despite the fact that the request was submitted a month ago.
Meanwhile, accreditation to the similar Labour conference earlier in September went smoothly and quickly, with Sputnik’s correspondent able to be among the reporters in attendance.
The Conservative Party Conference 2019 started on 29 September in the city of Manchester and will last until 2 October. According to reports, Prime Minister Boris Johnson will deliver a speech at the conference that will focus on issues related to Brexit.
For several years, Russian media outlets, especially Sputnik and RT, have been facing pressure in Western countries. Germany's Federation of Journalists, for example, has called on national regulators to deny RT Deutsch a broadcast license, claiming that the channel is a "tool for Kremlin propaganda". Moscow has called the accusations against RT and Sputnik groundless.