Report: Kremlin spox says Russia could lose access to global Web

MOSCOW, Jun 3 (PRIME) -- There are grounds to believe that Russia could be disconnected from the global Internet infrastructure since Moscow already faces illegal sanctions and threats of U.S. companies, presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said on Monday.

“We have all the grounds to think so,” Peskov told television channel RT.

“U.S. sanctions are aimed against us, and we came across threats from international commercial and industrial institutions. To be more precise, from the U.S. commercial entities, not global ones. From the point of view of international law, their actions are illegal.

“I would not cite any examples…Do you remember? There were talks that Russia could be cut from the international banking systems. Today we see another situation: a Chinese company could be disconnected from an updated U.S. operating system: they will become unavailable on devices of this company.”

The U.S. Commerce Department added Huawei Technologies and 70 affiliates in May to its Entity List, a move that bans the company from acquiring components and technology from the U.S. firms without government approval. Later, Washington gave Huawei three more months to keep sending software updates.

Peskov said, “We see trade wars unfolding, we face threats. We observe consequences of illegal actions.” The press secretary mentioned situations in Iran and China.

“We understand that we should be self-sufficient, independent on all fronts. It means the Internet as well. It’s a global information environment, but, unfortunately, we live in a world where certain countries can threaten international law. We must take safety precautions,” the official said.

President Vladimir Putin earlier signed a law on sustainable functioning of the local segment of the Internet, the Runet, against any external perils.

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