U.S. Ambassador to Moscow John Sullivan was summoned to the Russian Foreign Affairs Ministry on Friday, September 10. <\/p>\n
In a press release, the Russian Foreign MInistry said that the reason for the summons was interference in Russia\u2019s domestic affairs in connection with the upcoming State Duma elections.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring the conversation, it was emphasized that the Russian side has irrefutable evidence of violation of Russia law by American \u2018digital giants\u2019 in the context of the preparation and conduct of the elections to the State Duma.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Foreign Ministry\u2019s statement added that the \u201ccategorical inadmissibility\u201d of U.S. interference in Russia\u2019s domestic affairs was emphasized during the conversation.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Interfax reported that the Russian Foreign Ministry summoned Sullivan after journalists from the state news agencies TASS and RIA Novosti were denied accreditation to an event in New York commemorating the victims of 9\/11. The news agencies later refuted this information.\u00a0<\/p>\n
On September 9, Russia\u2019s federal censor (Roskomnadzor) demanded that the American tech giants Apple, Google, Cloudflare, and Cisco prevent Alexey Navalny\u2019s \u201cSmart Vote\u201d initiative from bypassing Russia\u2019s Internet blocks.<\/p>\n
Roskomnadzor blocked the \u201cSmart Vote\u201d website due to the initiative\u2019s connections to Navalny\u2019s Anti-Corruption Foundation, which Russian authorities designated as an \u201cextremist organization\u201d back in July.\u00a0<\/p>\n