Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, right, Russia's President Vladimir Putin, center, and Iran's President Hassan Rouhani attend a news conference in Russia's Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia, Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017. The presidents of Turkey and Iran have hailed their trilateral talks with Russia on Syria's future as critical for restoring peace in the war-torn nation. (Mikhail Klimentyev/Pool Photo via AP)
November 25, 2017 - 8:39 AM
MOSCOW - Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a bill allowing Russia to register international media outlets as foreign agents in a quid pro quo to the U.S. demand made to a Kremlin-funded TV channel.
Putin signed the bill into law Saturday after the upper chamber of the Russian parliament adopted it Wednesday. The move is Russia's retaliation after state-funded RT television was registered with the U.S. Justice Department as a foreign agent following pressure from Washington.
Without even waiting for the law to come into effect, Russia's Justice Ministry last week warned U.S. government-funded Voice of America and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, along with its regional outlets, that they could be designated as foreign agents under the new law.
News from © The Associated Press, 2017