U.S. Department of State told that the freedom of speech is the key element of healthy democracy.

After blocking Russian sites in Ukraine U.S. Department of State encouraged Kyiv to defend its national interests without undermining constitutional principles, Correspondent.net reports, quoting Voice of America.

“There is no doubt that the mass media, controlled by Russia, attempt to undermine Western mass media through fake news and false information, including Ukraine, where Russia uses other methods for undermining the government in Kyiv. Nevertheless, the freedom of speech is a key element of healthy democracy, set in the Constitution of Ukraine”, according to the Department of State.

U.S. Department of State encouraged the Ukrainian government to “find ways of defending its national interests so it does not undermine constitutional principles”.

The representative of the Department of State responded to the question about the possible previous communication between the USA and Ukraine regarding the implementation of this measure that he cannot comment “private diplomatic conversations regarding this specific question, but we are regularly involved in the discussion of Ukrainian government about the importance of the support of freedom of speech”.

It should be reminded that President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko signed the order, which, in particular, stipulates the blocking of access to Russian websites, Mail.Ru Group and Yandex as well as some TV channels.

The document, which orders the blocking of specified resources by Ukrainian Internet providers, came into force.