Russian President Vladimir Putin said this evening the government should guarantee press freedom but would not interfere in what he called a business dispute over control of Russia's only independent national television channel.
"Freedom of the press should, of course, be assured but it can be assured only under economic and legal conditions that are equal and acceptable to everyone," he said through a translator, in an interview shown on Germany's ZDF television.
President Putin, taking part in a joint interview with German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder during a bilateral summit in St Petersburg, was commenting publicly for the first time since journalists at NTV began protests a week ago over efforts to take over the station by state-dominated gas concern Gazprom.
The NTV journalists, many of whom have criticised President Putin on air, accuse the Kremlin of orchestrating efforts to silence them. But the president described the affair as a business dispute among the shareholders and management of the company.
"I don't think I, under these conditions, have the right to interfere in this conflict between different economic players," he said.
"I would agree with you that the state should not neglect to guarantee the freedom of expression of any citizen and especially press freedom."