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| Retired Arizona Senator John McCain |
Sen. John
McCain (R-Arizona) predicted that Russia would hold onto Crimea and called for
a "fundamental reassessment" of America's relationship with Russian
President Vladimir Putin on Sunday.
McCain, who
had recently returned from a trip to Ukraine, said Sunday's referendum in
Crimea on whether to split from Ukraine was "a bogus thing,"
comparing it to the plebiscites held in the days of Hitler and Stalin.
"It's a done deal," he said.
He supported
economic sanctions as an important step in the U.S. response to Russia's
actions.
"Russia
is a gas station masquerading as a country," McCain told Candy Crowley on
CNN's "State of the Union." "It's kleptocracy, it's corruption,
it's a nation that's really only dependent upon oil and gas for their
economy." But he also
said that wider action was necessary.
The U.S. has
to "have a fundamental reassessment of our relationship with Vladimir
Putin," he said. "No more reset buttons, no more 'Tell Vladimir I'll
be more flexible.' Treat him for what he is. That does not mean the re-ignition
of the Cold War. But it does mean treating him in the way that we understand an
individual who believes in restoring the old Russian empire.”
Credit: Huffington Post
