MOSCOW, (Reuters) – Moscow is open to dialogue with foreign tech companies about possible Russian bans on those who do not have an official representative in Russia at the end of this year, Interfax reported Monday, citing the state communication regulator.

According to the report, companies will be stopped as a last resort. This is a slight change from Roskomnadzor’s demand last month that 13 U.S.-based technology companies establish Russia before January 1st or risk being banned.

Russia has had Twitter (NYSE 🙂 slow down since March in a punitive move to prevent Moscow from deleting illegal material. Twitter denied that its platform was used for illegal behavior.

Russian courts are suing Alphabet’s Google (NASDAQ) and Facebook (NASDAQ), respectively, for multiple violations of the same law. When the court dates were made public, neither company replied to inquiries for comment.

The Russian law regarding representation was implemented on July 1. It applies to foreign tech giants as well as companies that have more than 500,000 monthly users.

Interfax’s Vadim Subbotin (roskomnadzor deputy head) stated that slowdowns and blocking were not something they want to use in principle. When other arguments fail, it is the last resort.

We will not immediately take action against those companies who fail to establish representative offices in the country within the timeframe. This does not mean we won’t start to think about it starting January 1.

Subbotin indicated that Roskomnadzor would be open to dialog with companies that demonstrate compliance with the law.

Roskomnadzor requested last month little detail about the requirements of companies and only targeted Russian-owned businesses. Analysts stated that there was insufficient clarity to the legislation.

Subbotin said Monday that Subbotin’s law was clear and detailed, with enough time for companies.