(Adds RBS statement)
By Andrew Osborn
MOSCOW, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Russia accused Britain ofpolitical censorship on Monday after a British state-owned bankwithdrew its services from Kremlin-backed Russian broadcasterRT.
RT said NatWest, owned by Royal Bank of Scotland Group(RBS), which is majority-controlled by the British government,had not explained why it was withdrawing its banking services inBritain and accused the bank of attacking freedom of speech.
In a letter published on RT's web site, NatWest said it haddecided to withdraw its services after "careful consideration".It did not offer an explanation for what it said was a finalruling, but said it would cancel RT's services from Dec. 12.
In a statement later, RBS said: "These decisions arenot taken lightly. We are reviewing the situation and arecontacting the customer to discuss this further. The bankaccounts remain open and are still operative."
Western critics dismiss RT, whose British arm producesUK-specific content, as a Kremlin mouthpiece designed to sowdisinformation. The channel, previously known as Russia Today,says it offers a refreshing Russian-slanted alternative take onglobal events to mainstream Western media.
NatWest's decision is likely to inject further tension intorelations between Moscow and London, already strained over Syriaand Ukraine, and make it harder for RT to operate in Britain,something the channel said it would continue doing regardless.
"The situation will cause some insurmountable obstacles forthe normal functioning of the channel in Britain," the RussianForeign Ministry said in a statement, adding it was deeplyconcerned and would raise the matter with British authorities.
"This gives rise to the thought that the bank has taken thedecision in agreement with official London to get rid of a newsresource that is inconvenient for the official narrative butpopular among the British public."
RT, which counts President Vladimir Putin among itssupporters and relies on Russian state funds, said the bank'sdecision was consistent with "countless measures" taken inBritain and elsewhere in Europe to try to impede its work.
'A MATTER FOR THE BANK'
A spokeswoman for Prime Minister Theresa May distanced theBritish government from the row, saying it was up to NatWest whoit offered services to based on its own appetite for risk.
Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of RT, reactedsarcastically to the move on social media, writing "Long livefreedom of speech!".
British broadcast regulator Ofcom has ruled against RT inthe past, saying programmes on Syria and Ukraine were misleadingand flouted Britain's broadcasting code. RT has called thosedecisions unfair.
A similar row erupted last year when the Russian governmentaccused Barclays of censorship after the British bankaccounts of state news agency Rossiya Segodnya were shut. Theagency's head, Dmitry Kiselyov, is on a European Union sanctionslist related to Russia's actions in Ukraine. (Additional reporting by Katya Golubkova in Moscow and AndrewMacAskill, Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan in London;Editing by Catherine Evans and Giles Elgood)
Barclays (BARC)
