John McCain cautions Trump against cozying up to Putin

(Image credit: Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is sounding an alarm over the blossoming relationship between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump.

"With the U.S. presidential transition underway, Vladimir Putin has said in recent days that he wants to improve relations with the United States," McCain said Tuesday in a statement. "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."

The Kremlin and Trump's office both said the pair have spoken on the phone, and aides are planning a face-to-face meeting. Throughout his campaign, Trump praised Putin, who supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and authorized Russia to launch a major military offensive in Syria on Tuesday, NBC News reports. "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."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.