Sen. John McCain was adamant that cozying up to Vladimir Putin after Russia's recent actions would be folly. | AP Photo McCain to Trump: Don't cozy up to Putin

Sen. John McCain on Tuesday blasted any attempt to play nice with Russian President Vladimir Putin, urging the new Trump administration to stand "on the side of those fighting tyranny" and not with "a former KGB agent who has plunged his country into tyranny."

The broadside from the chairman of the Armed Services Committee that must confirm Donald Trump's nominee for Defense secretary came after recent statements from Trump and Putin that they are looking forward to better relations.


Russia was especially prominent in the bitter battle for the White House after the Democratic Party and affiliated organizations were hacked by what the Obama administration has charged were groups working on behalf of the Russian government.

Trump and Putin also exchanged compliments about each other during the campaign, while some Trump advisers came under scrutiny for business ties with Russian oligarchs.

McCain, though, was adamant that cozying up to Putin after Russia's recent actions would be folly.

“Vladimir Putin has rejoined Bashar Assad in his barbaric war against the Syrian people with the resumption of large-scale Russian air and missile strikes in Idlib and Homs," the Arizona senator who was the 2008 Republican presidential nominee, said in a statement. "Another brutal assault on the city of Aleppo could soon follow."

“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 added. "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."

"At the very least, the price of another ‘reset’ would be complicity in Putin and Assad’s butchery of the Syrian people," McCain said. "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.”

Putin called Trump on Monday to congratulate him on his upset victory.

"President-elect Trump noted to President Putin that he is very much looking forward to having a strong and enduring relationship with Russia and the people of Russia," Trump's transition office said in a statement after the call.