McCain: There must be a 'price to pay' for Russian hacking

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee, told a Ukrainian news outlet that there should be a “price to pay” for Russian interference in the U.S. election.  

“When you attack a country, it’s an act of war,” McCain said in an interview with a Ukrainian TV channel while visiting Kiev, according to Reuters.  

"And so we have to make sure that there is a price to pay, so that we can perhaps persuade the Russians to stop these kind of attacks on our very fundamentals of democracy." 

McCain, along with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), has been one of the toughest GOP voices on Russia. He has pushed for President-elect Donald Trump to be tough on Russia after he takes office, while Trump has struck a friendlier tone toward Moscow. 

McCain scheduled hearings on cyberthreats to the U.S. for Thursday. 

U.S. intelligence agencies have pointed the blame at Russia for a campaign to interfere with the presidential election, including hacks on the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Hillary Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta.