US Senator Accused of Blocking Montenegro's NATO Bid

Republican senator Rand Paul was accused by John McCain on Wednesday of being pro-Russian after he blocked the passage of a treaty in the US Senate that would allow Montenegro to move forward towards NATO membership. 

According to US media, the libertarian-leaning Paul, who has often advocated for a less interventionist US foreign policy, opposed a resolution on Montenegro proposed by McCain.

"He has no justification for his objection to having a small nation be part of NATO that is under assault from the Russians," McCain said from the senate floor, The Hill quoted him as saying. 

"The senator from Kentucky [Paul] is now working for Vladimir Putin," Mccain added.

The flashpoint came after McCain asked for unanimous consent to set up a vote on the Accession Protocol on Montenegro for joining the Western military alliance. 

McCain, a fierce critic of the Russian administration, warned before the vote that "if there's objection, you are achieving the objectives of Vladimir Putin... and I do not say that lightly". 

Paul then entered the Senate chamber, voted against the accession protocol, and left again.  

Asked about McCain's accusations, Paul stood by his decision to block the protocol and said it would be "unwise to expand the monetary and military obligations of the United States given the burden of our $20 trillion dollar debt".

"Currently, the United States has troops in dozens of countries and is actively fighting in Iraq, Syria, Libya, and Yemen (with the occasional drone strike in Pakistan)," Paul told Business Insider in a statement provided by his office.

"In addition, the United States is pledged to defend 28 countries in NATO," he added. 

For Montenegro to move forward with...

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