RIGA, Latvia (AP) — NATO and
Russia exchanged heated language reminiscent of Cold War days on Thursday with
accusations of sinister geopolitical plotting and human rights abuses flying
across an increasingly deep divide.
Vershbow, the alliance's
deputy secretary-general, told a conference in Latvia that President Vladimir
Putin's "aim seems to be to turn Ukraine into a failed state and to
suppress and discredit alternative voices in Russia, so as to prevent a Russian
'Maidan,'" referring to the Ukraine uprising which ousted Moscow-ally
Viktor Yanukovych as president last year.
He rattled off a litany of
harsh accusations against the Kremlin.
Under Putin, Vershbow said,
Russia has developed "a new form of 'hybrid warfare,' combining military
intimidation, disguised intervention, the covert supply of weapons and weapon
systems, economic blackmail, diplomatic duplicity and media manipulation, with
outright disinformation."
In Moscow, Russian Deputy
Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov blasted the West for trying to enforce its
will on others and cast Russia as an enemy. He condemned NATO's decision to
create command and control centers in the Baltic states and three other eastern
allies, and to upgrade a headquarters unit in Poland — calling those moves a
clear signal that the alliance views Russia much as it once did the Soviet
Union.
View galleryItalian Prime
Minister Matteo Renzi , left, speaks …
Italian Prime Minister Matteo
Renzi , left, speaks as Russian President Vladimir Putin, listens, dur …
Antonov said that while
attending the recent Munich security conference he was struck by "mad,
paranoid" talk about Russia's coming military onslaught. "Western
countries are building new divisive lines," he said. "Russia has been
picked up as a target."
Russia's permanent
representative to NATO, Alexander Grushko, said the alliance is dreaming of a
"Russian Maidan."
The European Union and NATO
have been harshly critical of Russia's involvement in the standoff in eastern
Ukraine and the annexation by Moscow of the Crimea peninsula.
The 28 EU nations have
imposed a series of sanctions against Moscow, including visa bans and asset
freezes on top Russian officials, with Antonov being the latest addition to the
list.
Moscow rejects NATO claims
that it has designs on its neighbors, countering that it the West that is using
the Ukraine crisis to try to expand the alliance further east.
View galleryNATO Secretary
General Jens Stoltenberg, left, walks …
NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg, left, walks with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja be …
"NATO countries have
used the situation in southeastern Ukraine as a pretext to drop diplomatic
language, loopholes and slogans and move forward closer to Russian
borders," Antonov said in remarks released by the Russian defense
ministry.
"The alliance has found
a chance to find a new lease of life, as a phoenix. Everyone was thinking who
would be the threat after the Soviet Union was gone," he said. "Now
they have a nice opportunity to cast Russia as an enemy."
Follow Raf Casert at
http://twitter.com/rcasert
Vladimir Isachenkov reported
from Moscow.
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nato-russia-exchange-barbs-reminiscent-cold-war-days-160411421.html
Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nato-russia-exchange-barbs-reminiscent-cold-war-days-160411421.html
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