US, allies chastise Russia on media freedom

The United States and its allies on Thursday urged Russia to protect media freedom, condemning what they called a crackdown on independent outlets.

In a joint statement, the United States and 17 other nations including France, Germany and Britain said that Russia's strenuous new requirements on media to label themselves as "foreign agents," with fines if not, marked an "unambiguous effort to suppress Russians' access to independent reporting."

They said that Russia appeared intent on closing the presence in the country of US government-backed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty following the closure of independent outlets.

The outlets also criticized Russia for detaining journalists who covered protests for imprisoned opposition activist Alexei Navalny as well as over alleged abuse of a Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty reporter in Russian-annexed Crimea.