John McCain slams Russia's Putin in Pravda op-ed

Sen. John McCain has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of corruption and political repression in an opinion article published Thursday in Russia’s Pravda newspaper, days after The New York Times featured an op-ed in which Putin criticized American exceptionalism.

“President Putin and his associates … punish dissent and imprison opponents. They rig your elections. They control your media,” McCain, a Republican from Arizona, wrote in the article titled “Russians deserve better than Putin.”

In an approach similar to Putin’s op-ed, which directly addressed the American people, McCain aimed his at ordinary Russians.

“I am not anti-Russian,” he wrote near the opening of the article. “I am pro-Russian, more pro-Russian than the regime that misrules you today.”

“President Putin … doesn’t believe in you,” McCain wrote. “He doesn't believe that human nature at liberty can rise above its weaknesses and build just, peaceful, prosperous societies. Or, at least, he doesn't believe Russians can. So he rules by using those weaknesses, by corruption, repression and violence. He rules for himself, not you.”

McCain also criticized Putin for siding with the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the 2 ½-year civil war that has killed more than 100,000 people.

In his Sept. 11 op-ed in The New York Times, Putin appealed to Americans to refrain from a threatened military attack on Syria to punish the Assad government for its alleged use of chemical weapons.

Putin also wrote that he disagreed with President Barack Obama’s case for American exceptionalism.

“It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation,” the Russian leader wrote. 

Al Jazeera