MOSCOW, Russia — Sen. John McCain said Russian President Vladimir Putin is “destroying” his country’s reputation in a blistering op-ed article for one of the country’s leading news websites early Thursday.
The Arizona Republican accused Putin of allying himself with tyrants and ruling through violence and repression, a scathing retort to a New York Times editorial by Putin last week.
Questioning Putin’s alliance with Syrian President, Bashar Assad, which he called one of “the world’s most offensive and threatening tyrannies,” McCain asked: “How has he strengthened Russia’s international stature?”
McCain said he had written the article in response to the accusation from the Pravda.ru editor, Dmitry Sudakov, that he was “an active anti-Russian politician” and claimed he was, “more pro-Russian than the regime that misrules you today.”
Source: NBC News
