Sen. John McCain sent a message to President-elect Trump Tuesday over his promises to work with Russian President Vladimir Putin: Beware or be sorry.
The Arizona Republican said the new offensive launched by Russia in Syria this week shows Putin is working closely with Syrian President Bashar Assad in attacking rebel forces and the Syrian people.
Putin signaled Monday that he’s ready to work with Trump and improve relations, but McCain told the incoming president to watch his back. Hours after Trump and Putin spoke, Russia on Tuesday announced it was resuming bombing runs on the city of Aleppo using aircraft brought to the region by the aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov.
“We should place as much faith in such statements as any other made by a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny, murdered his political opponents, invaded his neighbors, threatened America’s allies and attempted to undermine America’s elections,” McCain said in the statement.
McCain told Trump to look back at the Obama administration’s attempts to improve Russian relations during the first few years of the Democrats presidency and see how well that went.
#СИРИЯ #ВИДЕО Подготовка палубной авиации ТАвКР #АдмиралКузнецов к выполнению задач по нанесению ударов по объектам террористов в Сирии pic.twitter.com/3iFCYoeDVw
— Минобороны России (@mod_russia) November 15, 2016
With Trump seemingly poised to try another “reset” of relations with Russia, McCain said following through with that plan would lead to the deaths of Syrians.
“The Obama administration’s last attempt at resetting relations with Russia culminated in Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and military intervention in the Middle East,” McCain said. “At the very least, the price of another ‘reset’ would be complicity in Putin and Assad’s butchery of the Syrian people. That is an unacceptable price for a great nation. When America has been at its greatest, it is when we have stood on the side those fighting tyranny. That is where we must stand again.”
