MOSCOW, February 10. /TASS/. Maksim Buyakevich, a deputy permanent representative of Russia at the OSCE, has said the West is looking for contrived excuses to get more involved in the situation in Ukraine, according to a copy of his speech at a meeting of the OSCE permanent council that was posted on the Foreign Ministry’s website on Friday.

"There’s a search for contrived excuses to maintain the current level of escalation and have a deeper military involvement of NATO in the situation in Ukraine, test the limits of Russia’s tolerance with respect to direct threats to the security of our country, which Western countries are creating on the territory of Ukraine," he said in the speech delivered on February 9.

"We are emphasizing this: Some countries of the North Atlantic Treaty alliance are sending tanks to those who publicly declare the goal of obliterating Russia as a country, produce munitions on their territory and provide them to Ukraine. And against this backdrop, they falsely and hypocritically state that they are not involved in the conflict. Of 30 NATO member countries, 27 provide military support to the regime of [Ukrainian President Vladimir] Zelensky," Buyakevich said.