STATEMENT BY JOHN MCCAIN ON THE RUSSIAN ELECTION

U.S. Senator John McCain today issued the following statement on the outcome of the Russian election:

"Yesterday we saw what is unfortunately yet another step away from democracy in Russia. In an election that was uncontested, where opposition candidates were either suppressed or arrested, where the result was foreordained by the manipulations of a corrupt and undemocratic regime, the one thing that was never in doubt was the result. It is a tragedy of history that at this moment, when the democratic tide has reached more nations than ever before, the Russian people who rose in unison in 1991 to end totalitarian rule backed by a pervasive and cruel KGB would, after less than two decades, be again deprived of the opportunity to choose their leaders in a free and open contest."