Washington was captured by corporate interests and is pushing their agenda on the world stage, Nikolay Patrushev has said

The US is not really a democracy, nor does it seek to promote democracy in its relations with other nations, contrary to Washington's claims, senior Russian security official Nikolay Patrushev said, commenting on the upcoming 'Summit for Democracy' hosted by the US government.

Patrushev, who is the secretary of the Russian Security Council, described the US economy as "dependent on corruption and lobbying connections going to the White House and Capitol Hill."

Corporate interests have hijacked the levers of political power in the US and use the country's international clout to pursue their own agenda, he said in an interview with Rossiyskaya Gazeta newspaper, to be published in full later today.

Washington pursues the same approach in the international arena, where it claims to be the champion of democracy but disregards other nations' sovereignty, Patrushev said. He believes that this "hypocrisy" will be on display at the Summit for Democracy, which will kick off this week in Washington.

The event will be "a gathering to support a world order in which Washington wants to play the central role forever. Dissenters will be labeled 'undemocratic states,'" he predicted. The US, which "appointed itself the dictator of the world, will harass the nations whose sovereignties and democracies were undermined," by Washington.

The reality is that "Washington has long been a leader in violating the sovereignty of other nations, in the number of wars and conflicts it has unleashed," the security chief said. He called the nations that support this arrangement "vassals" that are constantly "humiliated" in their abusive relationships with the US.

The international event, which is being held for the second time, is meant to promote democracy against what Washington increasingly sees as assertive "authoritarian" states. The US reportedly invited all participants of the first summit, which was held in 2021, including the administration of the self-governed Chinese island of Taiwan. NATO members Hungary and Türkiye were snubbed once again, according to Foreign Policy magazine.

(RT.com)