The decision of the Russian government to ban access to more than 80 media outlets inside the country - including three Cypriot media- is in conflict with the principles and values of democracy, Government Spokesman Konstantinos Letymbiotis says in a written statement.

He notes that the decision of the Russian government to ban access to more than 80 media outlets inside the country - including three Cypriot media - constitutes a blatant conflict with the principles and values on which democracy is based and the pluralism that strengthens it.

The Spokesman adds that access to free and independent information, freedom of opinion and expression, receiving and transmitting information and freedom of the press, they all serve as converging principles, as individual rights and as pillars of the foundation of democracy.