Putin joked about CNN's ban on asking questions in the US at the Valdai Club meeting

An American journalist at a meeting of the Valdai international discussion club noted that in Russia foreign journalists, for example from CNN, are given the opportunity to ask questions.

Putin joked that conditions in the United States had apparently changed and CNN was no longer allowed to ask questions.

MOSCOW, October 1 - RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin, answering a question from an American journalist at the plenary session of the 23rd annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, joked about banning CNN journalists from visiting the White House.

A journalist from the United States, asking a question to Putin, noted that he would like the States to give Russian reporters the opportunity to ask questions in the same way that Russia gives such an opportunity to foreign journalists, for example, with CNN.

“By the way, you said that CNN always gives you the opportunity to ask questions. In my opinion, something has changed in the United States; CNN no longer gives you the opportunity to ask questions,” Putin joked.

American leader Donald Trump on September 18 announced a ban on CNN, MSNOW and Politico from working in the White House, accusing them of spreading “fake news.” In response, all three media outlets sued the US administration, claiming violation of the First Amendment to the Constitution on freedom of speech.

The Valdai International Discussion Club is an association of leading foreign and Russian experts in the field of political science, economics, history and international relations. The club was created in September 2004 on the initiative of the RIA Novosti agency, the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, and the magazines "Russia in Global Affairs" and Russia Profile. The club owes its name to the location of the first conference, which took place in Veliky Novgorod near Lake Valdai.