U.S. Senator John McCain warned Monday that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a bigger threat to global security than Daesh terrorist group.

While Daesh does terrible things, it is Russia that tried to change the outcome of the 2016 U.S. presidential election, McCain told Australian broadcaster ABC in an interview to be broadcast late Monday.

"I think ISIS (Daesh) can do terrible things and I worry a lot about what is happening with the Muslim faith and I worry about a whole lot of things about it," McCain, who is visiting Australia, is quoted by ABC as saying.

"But it's the Russians who tried to destroy the very fundamental of democracy [sic] and that is to change the outcome of an American election. I have seen no evidence that they succeeded but they tried and they are still trying."

McCain also claimed that Russia wanted to influence the results of elections in France, while pressuring the Baltic region and dismembering Ukraine.

Emphasizing that the U.S. should impose sanctions against Russia's actions, McCain said that he was "nervous from time to time" due to U.S. President Donald Trump's practices on national security, referring to the ongoing accusations of pre-election ties with Trump's team and Russia.