The US is the "self-appointed global dictator" and its democracy is "nothing more than a petty facade," Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said recently in an interview with Russian media outlet Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
His words were in response to questions about the planned Summit for Democracy in the US.
The interviewer, who works for a Russian state-run media outlet, had said that the US thinks of itself as a "paragon of democracy for the entire human race" who won't want to hear criticism.
"Their democracy is nothing more than a pretty facade of a state structure designed to cover up how they ignore the rights of the common American."
Nikolai Patrushev
"Their democracy is nothing more than a pretty facade of a state structure designed to cover up how they ignore the rights of the common American," said Patrushev, who is a noted close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
He further stated that the US speaks out against other countries for alleged corruption and authoritarianism while also being home to around one-fifth of the entire prison population in the world, and further criticized the treatment of former US president Donald Trump, who was banned from social media after the US Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.
"How can there be freedom of opinion, if even the former president of the United States is prevented from speaking on social media or in the press about issues that interest the public, and while the media are propaganda outlets for major companies and elite groups?" Patrushev said.
In the same interview, Patrushev also said that Russia could destroy the US if it felt threatened.
"Russia is a patient country and does not intimidate anyone with its military advantage," he said "However, it has unique modern weapons that can destroy any enemy, including the United States, in case it is faced with an existential threat."
US-Russia tensions amid the war in Ukraine
Tensions between Russia and the US have worsened over the past year since the invasion of Ukraine began in February 2022.
One of the motivations for the invasion, labeled by Moscow as a "special military operation," was due to Kyiv's expressed desire to join NATO, the defense alliance led by the US, which Moscow sees as a threat to its security and has called an "anti-Russia alliance."
The US and other Western countries have also been vocal in criticizing Russia for numerous human rights violations even before the war began. However, this criticism has become even more vocal since the invasion.