Russia accused French presidential candidate Manuel Macron of discriminating and violating freedom of speech after his team banned Russian media from covering the campaign.

In Paris, Macron's spokesman confirmed that Russian state-owned media Sputnik and RT will not have access to the candidate himself and all events related to him.

At the same time, according to The Guardian, the representative of Macron called the editions "two-headed entities" that issue Russian state propaganda and fake news.

The publication recalls that Macron in the elections in France takes a frankly pro-European stance. Unlike his opponent, Marin Le Pen, he took a tough stance on EU sanctions against Russia, which were introduced after the Russian military aggression against Ukraine.

The team of the candidate for the presidency of France has already stated that his site, databases and computer networks are constantly under hacker attacks from Russia.

"The systematic and methodical spread of lies - that's the problem," said Macron's spokesman.

"If it creates problems with the Kremlin, they will become the subject of open discussion if our candidate wins," he added..

In turn, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova called the Makron team's decision "discrimination against Russian media". She urged the French authorities and international organizations to monitor the observance of freedom of speech during the second round of the presidential race.