MOSCOW (AP) — Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday it has revoked the accreditation of two employees with the German ARD broadcaster and ordered them to leave the country in what it described as a retaliation to German authorities’ move targeting two journalists from Russia’s state TV.

Ministry’s spokesperson Maria Zakharova told a briefing in Moscow that it may issue accreditation to other ARD employees if German authorities allow journalists from Russia’s Channel One to work in Berlin.

German Foreign Ministry spokesperson Christian Wagner denied the federal government had shut Channel One’s office, as the Russian broadcaster has claimed.

“The federal government has not closed the office of this broadcaster,” Wagner told a news conference. “Russian journalists can report freely and unhindered in Germany.”

“I can only surmise that this has to do with questions of residence status,” but those are not dealt with by federal authorities in Germany and state authorities make their decisions independently, Wagner added.

Channel One has been under European Union sanctions since December 2022 as tensions soared between Moscow and the West over Russia’s military action in Ukraine. The EU sanctions prevent it from broadcasting in Europe but don’t affect the presence of staff who work for it in Berlin.

Commenting on the decision to strip ARD employees in Moscow of their accreditation, Wagner said: “If this report is true, then we would, of course, condemn it in the strongest terms.”