McCain warns Trump: Putin should be trusted as much as 'KGB agent' who 'plunged his country into tyranny'
"With the US presidential transition underway, Vladimir Putin has said in recent days that he wants to improve relations with the United States," McCain said in a statement.
The Arizona senator 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."
McCain, who was the Republican presidential nominee in 2008, added that Putin was aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in his "barbaric war against the Syrian people."
"The Obama administration's last attempt at resetting relations with Russia culminated in Putin's invasion of Ukraine and military intervention in the Middle East," he said.
McCain added: "At the very least, the price of another 'reset' would be complicity in Putin and Assad's butchery of the Syrian people. 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."
McCain wasn't the only Republican senator attempting to influence the direction of Trump's foreign policy. Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky on Tuesday urged the president-elect not to nominate John Bolton as secretary of state, calling the former UN ambassador a "menace."
Trump will take office as the 45th president of the United States in January.