Kremlin comments on ban of Telegram messenger

Russian Presidential Spokesman Dmitry Peskov has declined to comment on the dispute between Telegram messenger founder Pavel Durov and Russia’s telecom watchdog Roskomnadzor.

"I would like to point out that this is not in our competence, it is (head of Roskomnadzor Alexander) Zharov who tackles the issues that concern regulations and the current legislation,"Peskov noted, adding that if Telegram got blocked, the press service will switch to another.

The Kremlin spokesman also declined to comment on Durov’s statement in which he said that Roskomnadzor’s demands ran contrary to the article of the Russian Constitution concerning correspondence privacy. 

"This issue is not for us to deal with," TASS cited the Russian presidential spokesman as saying.