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With President Donald Trump’s pick for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson hanging in the balance, Sen. John McCain (R-Az.) warned Trump against ending Russian sanctions. Trump’s due to speak to Russian President Vladimir Putin by phone Saturday, Jan. 28, prompting McCain to warn Trump about ending current U.S. sanctions. Putin was slapped by U.S. and European sanctions in 2014 for invading Crimea and supporting rebellion among pro-Russian separatists in the Donbass region of Southeastern Ukraine. U.S. and EU officials couldn’t understand Putin’s motives in annexing Ukraine March 1, 2012, returning Crimea to Russia, after Soviet Premier Nikkita Khrushchev ceded Crimea to Ukraine Feb. 18, 1954. Putin annexed Crimea one week after a CIA-backed coup toppled the elected government of Ukranian President Viktor Yahukovich Feb. 22, 2014 while Putin hosted the Sochi Winter Olympics.

No one in the U.S. or EU made any attempt to understand Putin’s motives in seizing Crimea from Ukraine. Putin sat helplessly by hosting the Sochi Games when a carefully orchestrated pro-Western coup drove Yahukovich out of Kiev. Former heavyweight champ Vitali Klitschko, now Kiev’s mayor, used a bullhorn to encourage the revolt, chasing out Ukraine’s duly elected leader. Ukraine’s acting President Oleksandr Turchynov and Prime Minister Arseniy Yatensyuk, eventually handed the reigns June 7, 2014 to billionaire chocolate baron Petro Porshenko. Whatever was promised by Klitschko and other revolutionaries, including Orange Revolution former Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko, has come full circle, with 35-year-old Nadya Savchenko starting an independent party to toss out Poroshenko for incompetence and widespread corruption.

Whatever went wrong in Ukraine, Western powers didn’t help things pushing revolutionaries to overthrow the duly elected Kremlin-backed government. Since getting independence from the Soviet Union Aug. 24, 1991, Ukraine maintained economic dependence on Russia for trade and energy. When Yanukovich decided to stay tied to the Kremlin in December 2013, it pushed pro-Western leaders to back the Feb. 22, 2014 revolution seeking eventual EU membership. With Ukraine in economic shambles after the revolution, it was in no position to offer the EU anything but an albatross. When pro-Russian areas in Southeastern Ukraine led by the Peoples Republic of Donetsk decided to stick with Moscow, Russian President Vladimr Putin lent military support to resist Poroshenko’s military attempt to retake the region. U.S. and EU officials blamed Putin for meddling in Ukrainian affairs.

Slapping economic sanctions on Moscow for annexing Crimea and defending pro-Russian residents in the Donbass region, U.S. and EU officials made no attempt to understand Putin’s longstanding military ties in Sevastopol, home to Russia’s warm-water Black Sea fleet. When you consider Khrushchev ceded Crimea to Ukraine while it was part of the Soviet Union, it’s no wonder Putin reacted harshly to a CIA-backed coup to set up a pro-Western government in Kiev. Asked recently whether he’d end Russian sanctions, President Trump hinted that it was under advisement. Armed Services Committee Chairman Sen. John McCain said ending the sanctions would be a “reckless course.” It’s one thing for McCain to hold opinions, it’s another to interfere with Trump running U.S. foreign policy. McCain knows voters elected Trump Nov. 8 to reset U.S.-Russian relations.

Threatening legislation to cement sanctions, McCain once again overstepped his boundaries as a U.S. senator. “If he does not [continue sanctions], I will work with my colleagues to codify sanctions against Russia into law,” said McCain, clearly interfering with Trump’s electoral mandate, but, more importantly, with his job to run U.S. foreign policy. Showing extreme prejudice against Russian President Vladimir Putin, McCain can’t contain incendiary comments, calling him a thug and criminal. If there’s any hope in Trump resetting U.S.-Russian relations, he needs to proceed without interference from McCain and other war hawks on Capitol Hill. McCain still supports the Saudi proxy war against Bashar al-Assad, wanting to supply more arms-and-cash to various terror groups seeking to topple the Damascus government. McCain’s foreign policy ideas don’t match Trump’s.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) needs to sit down with McCain and other GOP war hawks and remind them it’s up to Trump to set U.S. foreign policy. Throwing a roadblock to prevent a reset to U.S.-Russian relations, McCain has stepped out of line and must be reined in. Whatever his personal views about Putin, they’re no longer relevant now that Trump has the responsibility of setting U.S. foreign policy. Whatever former President Barack Obama did in the past to antagonize Russia or back the Saudi proxy war in Syria, it’s inappropriate for McCain to become a spoiler to Trump’s new foreign policy. Trump’s foreign policy and national security team have the responsibility to manage foreign relations and threats to U.S. national security. McCain needs to know his place on Senate Armed Services Committee, not pretend he’s commander-in-chief.