MOSCOW, June 2. /TASS/. The United Kingdom is encouraging Europe to prepare for a direct confrontation with Russia and seeks to prevent a thaw in Moscow-Washington relations, according to Alexander Gusarov, director of the Russian Foreign Ministry's North Atlantic Department.

"The British establishment has devoted nearly all of its foreign policy efforts to the goal of containing and weakening Russia. After persuading its Kiev clients in the spring of 2022 to abandon a negotiated settlement, London has consistently and openly raised the stakes in the Ukraine conflict and, more recently, has been pushing European countries toward rapid militarization and preparations for a direct clash with Russia," he said in an interview with International Affairs.

According to the diplomat, however, "the Brits themselves have no intention of jumping into the fray, nor do they possess sufficient economic or military capabilities to do so."

"Instead, drawing on a long historical tradition, they apparently hope to use intrigues and provocations to reinforce the dividing lines that have reemerged in Europe and to prevent any meaningful easing of tensions in Russian-American relations," he added.