MOSCOW, December 12. /TASS/. The US-hosted Summit for Democracy bears a strong anti-Russian and anti-Chinese charge, Yuri Averyanov, first deputy secretary of the Russian Security Council, said in an interview with the Rossiiskaya Gazeta.
"Of course, the so-called Summit for Democracy has an anti-Russian and anti-Chinese charge. But the key goal the White House pursues is different. The American elites are seeking to persuade themselves that their country is still the only super-power, that its global dominance is unchallengeable and that the entire world aligns itself with Washington only," he said.
According to Averyanov, the United States understands that the "short era of the American hegemony, which began after the end of the Cold War, is inexorably receding into the past." "The United States’ military dominance in the world is far from being absolute now and the Americans have to lag behind Russia and China in many areas," he said, adding that the United States is also losing its economic influence. "Washington’s voice is no longer taken as an ultimate truth even by some of its strategic partners, let alone other players," he said.
"What else has the US leadership to do? Only to play ideological games in a bid to persuade themselves and others that the United States is still an example of democracy and has the moral right to decide which countries fit into this example more and which cannot be called democratic at all," he went on to say.
He drew attention to the fact that Hungary and Turkey, the United States’ close NATO allies, were not invited to the event. Hungary is a member of the European Union and the membership in it automatically means that a country corresponds to the criteria of democracy as seen in the West. "It means that the White House actually tells Brussels that there is an undemocratic state within the European Union. It is an open blow on the European Union," he noted.
Turkey, he went on, is one of the United States’ oldest military political allies in NATO. "NATO says practically every day that it defends democracy. And now Washington admits that there is an undemocratic regime in NATO. By the way, the White House makes it clear that even an invitation to the summit does not mean the recognition that the country is democratic," he added.
The United States has failed to build democracy at home but is zealous to do it in other countries, Yuri Averyanov said.
He recalled that some time ago US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was asked how the United States, with all of its domestic problems, could teach the world about democracy.
"The secretary of state joked off that he was glad that domestic affairs was outside his competences. You know, there is a saying in Russia that those who cannot do something themselves teach others instead. This is what the United States is doing: they have failed to build democracy at home but are very zealous to do it in other countries," he said.
Imposing obligations
The United States will seek to impose liabilities facilitating its interference into domestic affairs on the countries that took part in the Summit for Democracy, Yuri Averyanov said.
"Obviously, such liabilities will be geared to make it easier for the United States to interfere into their domestic affairs. Naturally, under a specious pretext," he said when asked about concessions Washington would ask from the countries invited to the summit.
Thus, in his words, the United States may require these countries "pass seemingly reasonable laws against corruption or discrimination of women," which would be written under US standards "and would be actually used, say, to get rid of unwanted politicians who stand for conducting a policy independent from Washington." "They will be declared bribe-takers, racists, woman-haters, whatever, in order to stigmatize and outlaw them in their own country," he said.
Commenting on the participation of non-government organizations in this event, Averyanov noted that "non-government organizations have traditionally been at the cutting edge of America’s geopolitical games, including color revolutions." "There are grounds to think that such organizations will in the long run elaborate recommendations for the US authorities about which countries are to be recognized as democratic," he noted.
About the summit
The US-hosted virtual Summit for Democracy involving countries’ leaders, human rights activists and businessmen was held on December 9-10. Washington invited 110 world nations to take part. China, Russia, Turkey, Egypt and a number of other countries were not invited. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov earlier slammed the event as one of the most odious US projects aimed at dividing countries into democratic and non-democratic ones.