WASHINGTON -- A senior Republican senator has warned President-elect Donald Trump against softening U.S. policy toward Russia, saying any "reset" of relations would be a dangerous move.
The comments by John McCain, chairman of the Senate Armed Service Committee and a persistent critic of Russia, suggest tensions between Trump and congressional Republicans who want tougher action against Moscow.
McCain on November 15 alluded to a telephone conversation between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, in which Putin called for improved bilateral ties.
McCain said: "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 also alluded to outgoing President Barack Obama's attempts to mend ties with Russia after Moscow's invasion of Georgia in 2008. Тhe effort was known as a "reset."
"At the very least, the price of another 'reset' would be complicity in Putin and [the] butchery of the Syrian people," he said.