New York (Alliance News) - The Cold War echoed Saturday at the United Nations General Assembly as members of the former East and West blocs accused each other of military interventions.

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that Russia violated international law by annexing Crimea and urged world leaders to halt the re-emergence of an East-West divide.

"Not just any state but a permanent member of the Security Council, Russia, has with its annexation of Crimea unilaterally changed the existing borders in Europe and thus broken international law," he said.

Steinmeier said tensions between Russia and Ukraine were not merely "a regional conflict in eastern Europe" but affected the entire international community.

"We must not allow the old division between East and West to re-emerge in the United Nations," he said.

Speaking from the same poduim immediately after Steinmeier, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the US and NATO of pursing an "arrogant policy" in the world, saying the Western alliance has been unable to change its "genetic code" since the Cold War era.

He said the US-led Western alliance portrays itself as the "champion of democracy" but has trampled the "sovereign equality" of other countries.

He said military inference in other countries has become "a norm" in the West, while Washington has "openly declared its right to unilateral use of force anywhere to uphold its own interests."

Lavrov said the annexation of Crimea from Ukraine to Moscow was the choice of its people, who largely speak Russian. He said the crisis in Ukraine was a result of a Western-backed coup in Kiev.

Echoing Lavrov's sentiment, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez Parrilla told the assembly that the US was "infringing upon international law" when it launches attacks on other countries or interferes into their affairs.

"The attempt to deploy NATO up to the Russian borders will have serious consequences for international peace and security and for the stability of Europe," he said.

The Chinese and Austrian delegates sounded more compromising and apparently to been trying to find common ground in their speeches.

"Let us not return to Cold War thinking, where two blocs face each other," said the 28-year-old Sebastian Kurz, Austrian foreign minister. "Our political guideline must be to move from a policy of either Europe or Russia, to a logic of both Europe and Russia."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the world must not respond to violence with violence, calling for "political solutions" for the "incessant conflicts" that the international community faces.

"To beat swords into ploughshares may take time and effort, but history and reality have repeatedly demonstrated that to meet violence with violence will not lead to enduring peace, and the use of force will create more problems than solutions."

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi underlined Saturday that he was serious about peace talks with Pakistan but insisted it was now Islamabad's turn "to come forward and create an appropriate atmosphere."

"Our future is connected with our neighbourhood," Modi told world leaders during his first speech to the United Nations General Assembly as prime minister.

"I want to hold bilateral talks with Pakistan to improve friendship and cooperation in all seriousness and in an atmosphere of peace and without the shadow of terrorism."

New Delhi withdrew from planned talks with Islamabad in August after Pakistan revealed its intention to first consult with separatists in Kashmir, a disputed region between the two countries.

Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif criticized India's decision to boycott the talks, in his address to the UN on Friday.

India and Pakistan, two nuclear-armed archrivals, have fought three wars since their independence from Britain in 1947.

Agila Saleh Essa Gwaider, president of Libya's House of Representatives, said that terrorists have declared their intent to overthrow the current government in Tripoli, and he called on international community for help.

"From this podium, I say that turning a blind eye to terrorism in Libya is deemed unacceptable," he said. "The international community has either to stand with the elected legitimate authorities ... or say very clearly that the Libyans have to face terrorism alone."

South Sudanese President Salva Kiir said that UN peacekeeping forces currently providing protection to 100,000 South Sudanese civilians in their bases should move out of barracks and extend the protection to all people in the country.

"This is very important because their presence does not save the civil population if they don't move" he said, urging the peacekeeping mission to "protect the civilians in their neighbourhood."

The 69th annual session of the United Nations began Wednesday. More than 140 heads states and governments are scheduled to deliver speeches during the general debate through Tuesday.

Copyright dpa