Islam Times - US Senator John McCain rejects all-out war with Russia over Ukraine

Islam Times - Republican Senator John McCain has rejected a possible conflict between the United States and Russia due to the escalating tensions over the crisis in Ukraine.

“There would never be an all-out war with Russia that I know of. I know of no scenario where that would happen,” he said in an interview with euronews broadcast on Friday.

The Arizona senator, however, criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“He’s an old KGB apparatchik who wants to restore the Russian Empire and who uses the language New Russia,” McCain said.

The senator was also asked about his foreign policy priorities when he becomes the next Armed Services Committee Chairman in January.

“First of all we have to, in my view, repeal, this so-called sequestration, which are these automatic cuts in defense spending as well as other spending. We’re decimating our military, and I get that from all our military leaders, it’s not just my personal opinion,” McCain said.

“The second thing we have to do is do everything we can to restore American leadership – that means to lead. In other words we have to have a robust policy to give the lesson, one, to Vladimir Putin that he can’t just move across Europe. And the second is that we have to defeat ISIS (or ISIL),” he added.

McCain once again attacked President Barack Obama for having no strategy to defeat the ISIL terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.

He also suggested a no-fly zone in Syria as one of his strategies.

“A no-fly zone in Syria. A robust arming and equipping of the Free Syrian Army. More forward air controllers on the ground, special forces and others in Iraq in order to achieve that goal, and a dramatically increased air campaign. We have had very few air attacks,” he said.