British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson does not want to start an open conflict with Russia. He said this during a speech at the International Committee of the House of Commons of the British Parliament. According to him, London is trying to avoid a "cold war" with Moscow. "I want to say clearly: we do not want to get involved in a new" cold war ", it was quite a sad time," RIA Novosti quotes him.. Johnson stressed that during the Soviet times, when he was a child, he was constantly afraid that the country would be destroyed with the help of a nuclear strike.

At the same time, he is confident that the United Kingdom is now in no danger and that it is ready to accept the Kremlin's challenge.

Relations between the two countries worsened due to poisoning of ex-colonel GRU Sergey Skripal. The British authorities accuse Moscow of having alleged that the nerve agent belongs to Russia. However, no evidence has been provided so far. The Kremlin repeatedly denied these reports and called them slander. From the UK, 23 Russian diplomats were expelled. On 17 March, the Russian Foreign Ministry announced retaliatory measures and also sent 23 officers of the British Embassy to their homeland.