Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused the Bush administration of encouraging the Georgian-Russia military conflict to apparently benefit Republican candidate John McCain. In an interview with CNN, Putin said, “The suspicion would arise that someone in the US created this conflict on purpose to stir up the situation and to create an advantage for one of the candidates…They needed a small victorious war.” The White House dismissed Putin’s comments. Press Secretary Dana Perino said the Georgian conflict would threaten US-Russia ties.

White House Press Secretary Dana Perino: “We are in the process of re-evaluating our relationship with Russia, and we are doing that in concert with our international partners, such as France, but also many others, including Germany and all of the NATO countries. It’s premature to say — I don’t know what ultimately will result from the process that people are going to discuss what the consequences may be.”