VIENNA, July 17. /TASS/. NATO countries and the alliance itself are preparing for a direct conflict with Russia, deputy head of the Russian Foreign Ministry's Department for Non-Proliferation and Arms Control Anton Mazur has said.

"We not only see NATO countries and the alliance itself being drawn into the Ukraine conflict. We also see that preparations for direct confrontation with Russia have already begun," he said at a plenary session of the OSCE Forum for Security Co-operation.

According to him, the relevant plans include "increasing the number of armed forces and the number of weapons, their redeployment to the East, increasing military production, developing military transport infrastructure, building strategic reserves, dehumanizing Russians through propaganda and even building POW camps."

"Meanwhile, NATO countries, on the one hand, declare their non-participation in the conflict, and on the other hand do everything they can to ‘inflict a strategic defeat on Russia.’ They are climbing the escalation ladder step by step and have already gone from non-lethal means to long-range missiles. Combat airplanes, which were designed as dual-use weapons, are next in line," the diplomat said.