MOSCOW, November 1. /TASS/. As it sends invitations to countries to a "summit for democracy," the United States is keen to demonstrate that this is a mass movement, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told the Rossiya-24 round-the-clock television news channel in an interview.
"The 'summit for democracy' pursues the aim of classifying people and countries into democratic and undemocratic ones. The way I see it, the Americans wish to achieve the maximum loyalty, to create an impression there is a mass Washington-led movement," Lavrov said.
"It would be amusing to see who specifically has been invited and in what capacity," Lavrov said. "I am nearly certain that there will be attempts to lure in some of our strategic partners and allies," he said. Lavrov hopes that "they will demonstrate commitment to their obligations that exist on other platforms, and not at some artificially and unofficially convened one-time summits."
Lavrov said that both Russia and China were absent from the list of those invited.
"Some of our partners have been whispering into our ears that they had been asked to get ready and that an invitation was due soon. Asked what they will be doing there they reply they will make a statement online. A final statement will be issued afterwards. Is it possible to take a look at it? They reply it will be shown later. It is a sovereign-vassals type of relationship," Lavrov said.
On August 11, the White House said that US President Joe Biden was convening a Summit for Democracy. It is expected that the forthcoming conference will consider three basic issues: protection from authoritarianism, struggle against corruption and human rights.