Apple pauses sales of its products in Russia

A man with an iPhone phone in Moscow, Russia, in a 2014 photo.Maxim Shemetov (Reuters)

The American giant Apple has announced this Tuesday that it is “pausing” the sale of all its products in Russia.

In recent days, several US tech companies have taken similar steps in response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Through a statement, the manufacturer of Mac computers and iPhone phones says it is "very concerned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine."

"We are with those people who are suffering due to violence," says the company in the note.

"We join all those around the world who are calling for peace," adds Apple.

The company adds in the statement that it has also limited access to the Apple Pay payment system and disabled traffic and live incidents on Apple Maps in Ukraine "as a safety and precautionary measure for Ukrainian citizens."

In addition, the Apple App Store will no longer allow applications from the Russian network RT and the Sputnik agency to be downloaded outside of Russia.

Facebook, YouTube and Twitter have begun to crack down on content shared by Russian media amid mounting pressure from European countries to act against pro-Russian propaganda.

Following news of Apple's decision, Ukraine's Digital Transformation Minister Mykhailo Fedorov tweeted that Apple CEO Tim Cook should "finish the job" and urged the company to "block" access to its store. of applications in Russia.

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