NATO lashes out at 'revisionist' Russia, Moscow blasts West for creating new 'divisive lines'

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a news conference following a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 5, 2015. Italy's prime minister visited Moscow on Thursday in a bid to repair ties that have been hurt by Russia-West tensions over Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Karpukhin, Pool)(The Associated Press)

Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi , left, speaks as Russian President Vladimir Putin, listens, during their news conference after their talks in the Kremlin in Moscow, Russia, Thursday, March 5, 2015. Italy's prime minister visited Moscow on Thursday in a bid to repair ties that have been hurt by Russia-West tensions over Ukraine. (AP Photo/Sergei Karpukhin, Pool)(The Associated Press)

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, left, walks with Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja before their meeting in Helsinki, Finland, Thursday, March 5, 2015. (AP Photo/Lehtikuva, Markku Ulander) FINLAND OUT, NO THIRD PARTY SALES(The Associated Press)

RIGA, Latvia NATO and Russia are exchanging heated language reminiscent of Cold War days with accusations of sinister geopolitical plotting and human rights abuses flying across an increasingly deep divide.

NATO's top U.S. civilian official said Thursday says that "an angry, revisionist Russia" was stopping at little to re-establish its clout in Europe, including redrawing "borders by force to achieve its goals."

NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow said 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 last year.

In Moscow, Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov blasted the West for trying to create "new divisive lines in Europe."

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NATO lashes out at 'revisionist' Russia, Moscow blasts West for creating new 'divisive lines'