The Kremlin on Thursday slammed Germany's ban on Russia's German-language TV channel, calling it "infringement of the freedom of speech".
Speaking at a briefing in Moscow, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow regretted the decision of the German authorities to ban the broadcasting of RT Deutsch (RT DE).
"The situation is absolutely obvious, the Russian media, I would even say, the international media is banned from broadcasting in Germany. This is nothing but an infringement on freedom of speech," the spokesman said.
In a separate statement, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova promised to announce reciprocal measures later on Thursday.
Zakharova also resented the attitude of the representative on freedom of the media of the Organization of the Cooperation and Security in Europe (OSCE).
According to Zakharova, Teresa Ribeiro did not see "anything" in the RT ban in Germany that could interest the OSCE representative on freedom of the media.
However, the spokeswomen expects that Ribeiro can criticize Russia's reciprocal measures.
"Then it will be doubly unforgivable for Ms. Ribeiro to speak out about the Russian retaliatory measures that will be announced today. Firstly, they are reciprocal. Secondly, having lied once, who will believe you," she said.
Germany's media regulator on Wednesday banned RT Deutsch from broadcasting in the country, citing lack of a valid license to operate in Germany.
According to a statement by the regulator, the channel has neither received nor requested this permission, and authorities asked RT DE to stop its broadcasting in Germany via satellite, live stream on the internet, and mobile and smart TV apps.