Influential Senator John McCain, a former Republican presidential candidate, called for Russia's exclusion from a G8 meeting later this year and has also introduced a Senate resolution urging President George W. Bush to take action to suspend Moscow from the exclusive club.

His remarks came after this week's meeting between Bush and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Slovakia, where the US leader expressed concern to his Russian counterpart about Moscow's approach to democracy.

Washington and its European allies should tell Putin, "'Vladimir, you're not welcome at the next G8 conference' -- at least to start with," McCain told Fox News. "That has some symbology associated about it."

"We should be worried about this latest deal between Russia and Iran, because Iran does not need nuclear power, and obviously this is a regime which became much more oppressive and repressive over the last couple of years."

The accord Sunday between Iran and Russia on Sunday paves the way for the firing up of the country's first atomic power station, a project the United States alleges is part of a cover for weapons development.

"I think this latest step of the Russians vis-a-vis the agreement with the Iranians calls for sterner measures to be taken between ourselves and Russia," McCain said.

"It has got to, at some point, begin to harm our relations, because we can't stand by and allow Russia to continue to behave -- it's almost aberrational."

McCain said developed countries should also give Russia the cold shoulder for its failure to adhere to democratic principles.

"Vladimir Putin seems to me to be acting somewhat like a spoiled child. He tried to interfere in the elections in Ukraine ... He throws people in jail. He now is repressing the press. He is now appointing governors of all the provinces in Russia," the Arizona Republican said.

"Every step he takes seems to be headed toward a restoration of the old Russian empire. And this is not good," said McCain.

Fellow Republican Senator Lindsey Graham said Washington should "make a full-court press to get Russia to come to realize that a nuclear Iran is not a stabilizing influence; it's a destabilizing influence."

Graham, who returned from a trip in Afghanistan and Iraq, told CNN that "every military leader I talked to spoke of efforts by the Iranian government to destabilize Afghanistan and Iraq."

"Iran is part of the problem, not the solution. And the Russian government is ignoring reality," he said.

"I hope the Russian government will stop this empowering of Iran," Graham said.

"It is time for the Russian government to pay a price for empowering the bad guys and slipping back away from democracy. It's time for freedom-loving nations to stand up and say, 'Enough already.'"

Asked if Moscow should be kicked out of the G8, he said: "If that would make a difference, put it on the table."

"We cannot win this war on terror if people are undercutting us," he said. "And one way to undercut us is to empower Iran.

Leading European envoys in the United States, meanwhile, said they disagreed withe the idea of excluding Russia from the G-8 meeting.

"Certainly we think Russia should participate. It's going to be in the chair next year" said David Manning, Britain's ambassador to the United States.

But Russian participation, he added "is on the basis of the shared commitment to the policies that the G-8 represents," he told CNN television, in comments that were echoed on the same program by French ambassador Jean-David Levitte and German ambassador to the United States Wolfgang Ischinger.

Manning added that he was not perturbed by the Russian-Iranian energy agreement.

"This is not a new deal," he said. "We don't have a problem with it.

"We've known this has been in the pipeline for some time. And what is it implies the Russians will supply the fuel, that the Iranians will use it, and they will do so under full-scope safeguards," he said.

"This will be monitored very carefully," said Manning.

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