Sen. John McCain on Tuesday warned President-elect Donald Trump against re-establishing relations with Russia, saying the "price of another 'reset' would be complicity in Putin and Assad's butchery of the Syrian people."
The Arizona senator said the last reset attempted by President Barack Obama led to Russia's "invasion of Ukraine and military intervention in the Middle East," the Washington Examiner reported.
"At the very least, the price of another 'reset' would be complicity in Putin and Assad's butchery of the Syrian people," McCain said in a statement. "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."
McCain was responding to a Monday phone call between Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin, in which Putin said he wanted to improve relations with the U.S.
"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.
On Tuesday, Russia restarted bombing missions in Aleppo, in support of Syrian President Bashar Assad's attempt to root out rebels who have long opposed him.
Trump has been complimentary of Putin throughout his campaign, once saying, "Wouldn't it be nice if we got along with Russia?"
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