France freezes RT assets following EU's 9th round of sanctions

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
20 Jan 14:38

Now that assets have been blocked, the news agency is in complete incapacity to carry on activities "in the same conditions as before" since it is no longer able to pay salaries and contractors.

Xenia Fedorova, Director of RT France (Reuters)

Le Monde reported on Friday that the french version of Russia Today, known as RT France, had its assets frozen by the government of France in light of the ninth package of sanctions against Russia.

"All the funds in [our] account are frozen at the request of the General Directorate of the Treasury," wrote the outlet's chief Xenia Fedorova in an internal note seen by Le Monde, adding that the news agency is in complete incapacity to carry on activities "in the same conditions as before" since it is no longer able to pay salaries and contractors.

In March 2022, the EU imposed sanctions on Russian state-affiliated news outlets, including RT and Sputnik, in the aim of containing what it called disinformation being spread by the Russian government about the conflict in Ukraine.

However, RT France continued to carry out its operations in Paris and broadcasted its content in African francophone countries.

The news outlet also remained available on several online platforms such as Odysee.

The block on RT France's assets was implemented on grounds of the EU's ninth round of anti-Russian sanctions adopted in December last year.

On January 12, it was reported that the EU is intensifying its work on the 10th sanctions package against Russia, with Poland proposing the imposition of new measures and strengthening existing ones.

"The work has really been accelerated. Poland as a member of a group of like-minded countries is making proposals on new sanctions. Tightening up existing restrictions is also a constant process," Polish Ambassador Andrzej Sados said, as quoted by the Polish news agency PAP.

It is reported that the new package of sanctions aims to expand the list of sanctioned individuals and organizations and add diamonds to the list of sanctioned Russian exports. Additionally, the new package of sanctions would be expected to target Russia and Belarus.

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