McCain says Russian military flights near Alaska intended to test Trump
Senator: Planes are ‘classic old Soviet confrontational’ acts
The Russian military planes that flew near Alaska four days in a row are part of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s effort to test President Donald Trump, Sen. John McCain says.
“This is Vladimir Putin’s classic old Soviet confrontational behavior,” McCain, R-Ariz., told The Arizona Republic. “Among other things, he’s testing the new president.”
However, McCain, the chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, did not seem overly concerned about incidents in which the Russians carefully avoided entering U.S. airspace.
“It’s sort of dangerous. Not real dangerous, but it’s provocative and it’s a violation of the standards of international behavior,” McCain said.
U.S. rivals around the globe typically closely observe and sometimes challenge U.S. presidents early in their first terms to see what they can get away with. For example, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev was said to have concluded that President John F. Kennedy was weak. He drew that conclusion based on the failed U.S.-backed Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba in April 1961 and after the two leaders met in person in Vienna the following June. That perception, according to some historians, could have precipitated the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis.
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, on Friday was asked about the Russian planes flying near Alaska. He downplayed the situation as “not highly unusual.”
“We conduct military operations in international space,” Spicer said, but added that the U.S. is keeping an eye on what’s going on.
In 2015, Turkey shot down a Russian fighter jet that it alleged entered its airspace along its border with Syria. The incident damaged Turkish-Russian relations.
“That was when they were flying over Turkish territory,” McCain said. “And, by the way, the Russians never flew over there again.”
McCain is focusing on national security this weekend as he participates in Sedona Forum 2017, the signature, invita- tion-only event held each year at the secluded Enchantment Resort by Arizona State University’s McCain Institute for International Leadership.
McCain’s special guest this year is H.R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser. In the past, McCain has hosted Vice President Joe Biden, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at conference, which is closed to the public and the media.
“The Balkans is the place where World War I started. There’s a lot of tensions and a lot of serious problems in that region and we’re not paying attention to it,” McCain said. “Also, the Russians are trying to influence events to the point where they tried a coup to overthrow the elected government of Montenegro, a small country in the Balkans.”
“It’s provocative and it’s a violation of the standards of international behavior.” SEN. JOHN MCCAIN SPEAKING ABOUT RUSSIA’S RECENT MILITARY FLIGHTS NEAR ALASKA
Nowicki is The Republic’s national political reporter. Follow him on Twitter at @dannowicki and on his official Facebook page.