EXCLUSIVE: Speaking to The Telegraph, Republican senator leads chorus of American fury over EU's tepid sanctions against Moscow Europe's tepid sanctions on Russia are "a joke" that will only encourage further aggression from Vladimir Putin, John McCain said on Wednesday The Republican senator, who has been a leading voice for strong action against Moscow, led a chorus of American anger over Europe's limited sanctions in the wake of the downing of Flight MH17. "It's a joke and they will do nothing and I predicted they would do nothing," Mr McCain told The Telegraph. "They will continue to do nothing until the day they become independent of Russian energy. Until then they will talk." European foreign ministers announced Tuesday they would sanction more Ukrainian and Russian individuals and companies but stopped short of broad sanctions designed to hammer the Russian economy. Mr McCain said that in the face of European inaction it would be helpful for Britain to move ahead unilaterally with banking sanctions but he doubted the British government had the resolve. "It would help but even they're not going to do that because they want all that money into London," he said. The former presidential contender called Mr Putin "a KGB thug" who was was using his influence with the separatists to "call the shots" in eastern Ukraine. "He's encouraged [by the lack of European action]. Wouldn't any thug be?" Mr McCain said. Mr McCain's frustrations with Europe were echoed by members of both parties. An Obama administration official called the EU measures "feeble", although they said the White House took some encouragement from the foreign ministers' promise to consider broader sanctions against the Russian defence, energy and financial sectors. "The European response is beyond feckless," Bob Corker, the top Republican on the Senate's foreign affairs committee said. "It's so disappointing and sends a really strong signal to Putin that 'there's no there there'". In interviews on Capitol Hill, US senators generally gave David Cameron credit for his strong words on standing up to Russia but said that Germany was the most important force in Europe. "I did appreciate much Cameron's statement in Parliament," Mr Corker said. Tim Kaine, a Democrat senator on the foreign affairs committee, said France's decision to move ahead with the delivery of two helicopter-carrying warships to Russia was "very unwise". "If I were France I would be very wary. I don't think you want to closer to this authoritarian regime. They have some baubles that they can offer but I don't think ultimately getting closer has any upside for France," he said. Mr McCain said: "If you think the French are going to not deliver those two helicopter carriers I've got some beachfront property in Arizona for you," referring to his land-locked desert state in the American southwest. The White House meanwhile is under pressure from three powerful Democrat senators who called on President Barack Obama to impose a fresh round of sanctions without waiting for Europe to catch up. "The US must not limit its own national security strategy when swift action will help fulfill our strategic objectives," the chairs of the Senate foreign affairs, intelligence and armed services committee told the President in a letter. The three Democrats said the White House should impose broad sanctions on the Russian defence, energy and finance sectors. They also said the US should consider designating the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), the breakaway separatist entity in eastern Ukraine, as a terrorist organisation. Mr McCain said he would agree with officially designating the DPR as terrorists but that it was "pure fantasy" to say the breakaway republic was independent of Russia. "It's Vladimir Putin that's calling the shots. It's Vladimir Putin that's ordering all this equipment into eastern Ukraine from Russia," he said. Get the latest headlines http://www.telegraph.co.uk/ Subscribe to The Telegraph http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=telegraphtv Like us on Facebook http://www.facebook.com/telegraph.co.uk Follow us on Twitter https://twitter.com/telegraph Follow us on Google+ https://plus.google.com/102891355072777008500/ Telegraph.co.uk and YouTube.com/TelegraphTV are websites of The Daily Telegraph, the UK's best-selling quality daily newspaper providing news and analysis on UK and world events, business, sport, lifestyle and culture.

• published: 23 Jul 2014
• views: 4692