MOSCOW, February 9. /TASS/. It appears unlikely that the British authorities will drop their anti-Russian policies any time soon, a high-ranking Russian foreign ministry official said.

"We have no illusions that London’s anti-Russian course will undergo any significant changes in the near future," Alexander Gusarov, director of the ministry’s North Atlantic department, told the Kommersant daily.

"The efforts by the Russian and US leadership toward a comprehensive and lasting settlement around Ukraine on the basis of the understandings that were reached in Anchorage can be characterized as constructive," he said. "London, on the contrary, is obsessed with the idea of inflicting the maximum possible damage on our country and not letting the conflict end on terms we find acceptable. The British establishment is thus acting in increasingly obvious opposition to the global trend."

According to the diplomat, "managing the Ukrainian conflict through the puppet Kiev regime tasked with exterminating everything Russian is one of the last mechanisms of political survival the Keir Starmer government has."

Gusarov pointed out that literally every day London is rocked by news of the ruling circles’ failure on the domestic and foreign fronts. "Among the latest such news are the constantly emerging unpleasant circumstances surrounding the involvement of leading representatives of the British elite in the Epstein case. In the background, the socio-economic situation in the country continues slowly degrading, especially in rural areas," he added.

In other words, "London’s policy of inflating the comprehensive and all-embracing confrontation with Russia will continue," he stated. "As a matter of fact, this is not a mere foreign policy priority, but a pillar of the state ideology in that country. Though, we are no strangers to such British tricks."