The US will impose full blocking financial sanctions as part of its actions against the Russian media outlet RT, James Rubin, the director of the State Department's Global Engagement Center, said on Friday.
"One of the reasons why so much of the world has been not as fully supportive of Ukraine as you'd think they would be... is because of the broad scope and reach of RT. Propaganda, disinformation, and lies are spread to millions if not billions of people around the world," Rubin said.
The US has imposed sanctions on the Russia’s media group Rossiya Segodnya and its Director General Dmitry Kiselev for their roles in alleged covert influence operations, the US Treasury Department announced on Friday.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told Sputnik on Friday that US Secretary of State Antony Blinken's actions should be treated as blockchain in response to his statement about the Russian media outlet RT.
Blinken on Friday accused state media organization RT of possessing cyber capabilities and engaging in covert information, influence operations, and military procurement.
"I suggest treating Blinken's actions as a blockchain," Zakharova told Sputnik.
Blinken earlier stated that the US, Canada and the UK are launching a joint diplomatic campaign to push back against alleged Russian disinformation and covert influence.
"Today, the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada are launching a joint diplomatic campaign to rally allies and partners around the world to join us in addressing the threat posed by RT and other machinery of Russian disinformation and covert influence," Blinken told reporters.