To whom is NATO: the Russian Foreign Ministry called the non-admission of Izvestia to the summit of the bloc Russophobia

Izvestia was denied accreditation for the upcoming NATO summit without explanation. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called such a move an act of Russophobia. Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, said that the alliance was demonstrating its rejection of everything Russian, and had also become unaccustomed to working in a competitive media environment. At the same time, during SPIEF 2026, Vladimir Putin held a separate meeting with the world media, where he answered questions from representatives of Western countries. Experts pointed out that NATO is escalating the information war with Russia, being unprepared for dialogue.

Refusal of accreditation to the NATO summit

The NATO Summit will be held on July 7-8 in Ankara, the capital of Turkey. The meeting will be held under the leadership of Alliance Secretary General Mark Rutte. The main topics of the summit will be a radical increase in military spending, long-term financing of Ukraine and the strengthening of countries bordering the Black and Mediterranean Seas. At the same time, the Izvestia newspaper refused to be accredited to the NATO summit, without explaining the reasons.

— I regret to inform you that this time your request for media accreditation cannot be granted. I cannot discuss the reasons for this decision, it is final," the NATO press service replied.

Photo: IZVESTIA/Pavel Volkov

The official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, called this decision an act of Russophobia in an interview with Izvestia. Konstantin Kosachev, Deputy Chairman of the Federation Council, added that NATO is refusing to cooperate in any form, be it economic, political, and, not least, media.

— That is, it's a kind of pose. Secondly, it seems to me that they have already lost the habit of working in a competitive information environment. If you don't pay attention to some nuances of a non-fundamental nature, they have already achieved a fairly high degree of unanimity in their own media environment, when, say, the North Atlantic Alliance is a "light in the window", it is a blessing in every sense of the word, which should not be questioned, he said.

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And as soon as it turns out that someone can cover an event within the framework of NATO's activities from alternative positions, of course, for them it is always "a threat, a challenge, and discomfort."

"These two positions converge, and the outcome, alas, will remain that way for a long time," Kosachev concluded.

In 2024, Izvestia was also denied accreditation for the NATO anniversary summit in Washington. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said at the time: "This indicates that "NATO and the services of the North Atlantic Alliance are resorting to discriminatory policies against the media by country, which is absolutely unacceptable and contradicts all norms and principles of information openness and transparency."

Photo: Global Look Press/Ting Shen - Pool via CNP

It is worth noting that the SPIEF 2026 was attended by representatives of the world's media: both from the USA and from the EU. For example, on June 4, at the Konstantinovsky Palace in St. Petersburg, Russian President Vladimir Putin, contrary to Western statements about political isolation, communicated with representatives of the world media.

For example, Putin was asked questions by the American Associated Press, British Reuters, French AFP, German DPA and Spanish EFE. The topics discussed included negotiations with Ukraine, the situation at the front, the testing of the "Hazel Tree" and the presidential elections in 2030. The president was even asked about the alleged hybrid war against the EU through cyber attacks and sabotage. Putin replied that the accusations were unsubstantiated.

It is this thesis about hybrid warfare that the West uses to justify its illegal actions, said Konstantin Blokhin, a leading researcher at the Center for Security Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

— The seizure of our strategic assets also does not comply with international law. They justify all this with a hybrid war, and in such conditions, agreements and rules are subject to change. They are looking for loopholes in international law. And the only loophole is confrontation," the expert noted.

Photo: REUTERS/Yves Herman

The refusal to accredit Izvestia violates the Helsinki Agreements of 1975, which explicitly oblige to facilitate the working conditions of foreign journalists, said Andrei Kortunov, an expert at the Valdai Club. According to him, Russia and the West are in a state of information warfare, and for the leadership of NATO, for their departments of work with the media, the traditional rules have ceased to be decisive.

Freedom, in a word: discrimination against Russian media has increased in Western Europe

Belgium, France, Germany and Switzerland were included in the anti-rating.

Increasing pressure on Russian media

The discriminatory pressure on Russian media abroad has reached a new level since the beginning of its development. In June 2024, the EU, for example, made an unprecedented decision to completely suspend the broadcasting and distribution activities of the largest Russian media resources on its territory. The Izvestia News Center, Rossiya Segodnya News Agency, and Rossiyskaya Gazeta were severely banned. The blocking affected not only satellite and cable broadcasting, but also Internet platforms. Western institutions justify these steps by "combating disinformation."

In addition, Russian journalists are faced with a systematic denial of access to key global platforms. For example, RIA Novosti correspondents were denied accreditation to the Munich Security Conference. And the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has also blocked the accreditation of Russian journalists for the Winter Olympics. The Russian Foreign Ministry called this decision discrimination based on nationality.

Photo: RIA Novosti/Anton Denisov

In early 2026, the European Union approved personal sanctions against a number of Russian journalists Pavel Zarubin, Dmitry Guberniev, Ekaterina Andreeva and Maria Sittel, and in the spring Ernest Mackevicius and Anton Anisimov joined the list. Back in 2023, Izvestia correspondent Viktor Sineok was placed under EU restrictions. In addition, in May 2026, the Union of Journalists of Russia was permanently excluded from the International Federation of Journalists.

All this indicates that there is no denouement or dialogue based on compromise, Blokhin added. According to Kortunov, the strategies of the West are always inertial.

— Even if we assume that something is starting to change, say, in the leadership of NATO, or there will be some new trends in Washington, the machine continues to work according to the algorithm that it was set in the past. It takes time and a lot of effort to change this algorithm. Therefore, the lag effect always appears. Inertia is already very strong, and it will be in effect for a long time," the expert concluded.

Photo: Global Look Press/Benoit Doppagne

The struggle for access to international platforms is becoming not only a media issue, but also a political issue. For global journalism, this is another alarming signal that the information field is increasingly becoming part of a conflict, where filters, prohibitions and political isolation of "inconvenient" media are taking over instead of open dialogue and competition of opinions.