Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) returned from a congressional trip to Ukraine over the weekend, and on Sunday he said that the situation in Ukraine will not take a turn toward traditional war any time soon.
“No boots on the ground,” he said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “It’s not the Cold War over again.”
McCain also conceded that at this point, Crimea belong to Russia.
“It’s a done deal,” he said about Crimea’s referendum to join Russia.”You can’t say that there’s anything but a fait accompli.”
That doesn’t mean that the U.S. should give up, however, he added.
McCain listed a few of the U.S. options that could help Ukraine eventually regain Crimea, including some military assistance to Ukraine and economic sanctions against Russia.
He said that the U.S. needs a “fundamental reassessment of our relationship with Vladimir Putin.”