NatWest bank plans to close accounts held by Russia's RT, also known as Russia Today, according to a copy of a letter posted online by the state-funded broadcaster and news agency on Monday, according to dpa. "Our accounts in Britain have been blocked. All of them," Margarita Simonyan, RT's editor-in-chief, wrote on Twitter. "Decision not to be discussed," Simonyan quoted from the bank's letter, adding the comment "Hail to freedom of speech!" The letter said NatWest and other banks in the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) group will "no longer provide [banking] facilities" for RT after December 12. Any credits in the accounts at December 12 will be sent to the broadcaster by cheque, said the letter, which was dated October 12 in early photographs posted by RT but had the date blurred in later ones. The bank did not give its reasons but said it planned to discuss the issue with the news agency, while unofficial sources said the government had not been involved in the decision. "These decisions are not taken lightly," the bank said in an emailed statement to dpa. "We are reviewing the situation and are contacting the customer to discuss this further," it said. "The bank accounts remain open and are still operative." The move follows a similar closure of RT bank accounts in Britain by Barclays last year, which the Russian media group speculated could be linked to international financial sanctions against Dmitry Kiselyov, the head of RT and an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
