Russian state broadcaster RT says all its bank accounts in Britain have been closed down.
"Our accounts have been closed in Britain. All of our accounts. 'The decision cannot be appealed.' Long live freedom of speech!" RT editor in chief Margarita Simonyan wrote on Twitter.
RT says NatWest has informed RT’s London office that it will no longer have the broadcaster among its clients.
It quoted the bank as also saying that the entire Royal Bank of Scotland Group, of which NatWest is part, would refuse to service RT.
It said the bank provided no explanation for the decision.
A spokeswoman for British Prime Minister Theresa May said the decision by NatWest to withdraw banking services in Britain from the state-run Russian broadcaster was a "a matter for the bank and it’s for them to decide who they offer services to based on their own risk appetite."
The Kremlin-run news channel, formerly known as Russia Today, had previously been sanctioned by Britain's broadcasting regulating agency, Ofcom, for biased reporting.
In July 2015, Barclay closed a bank account held by state-run media conglomerate Rossia Segodnya in a move the Russian Foreign Ministry linked to Ukraine-related sanctions imposed by the EU.
