Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin accuses America of staging conflict with Georgia to benefit John McCain's campaign.

In an exclusive interview with CNN's Matthew Chance in the Black Sea city of Sochi on Thursday, Putin said the U.S. had encouraged Georgia to attack the autonomous region of South Ossetia.

Putin said his defense officials had told him it was done to benefit a presidential candidate -- Republican John McCain and Democrat Barack Obama are competing to succeed George W. Bush -- although he presented no evidence to back it up.

"U.S. citizens were indeed in the area in conflict," Putin said. "They were acting in implementing those orders doing as they were ordered, and the only one who can give such orders is their leader."

White House spokeswoman Dana Perino blasted Putin's statements, saying they were "patently false."

This is not the first time the Russians have made this claim.

I was struck by how sudden this conflict seemed to happen, but I was even more surprised by how fast, and well prepared, the McCain camps response was to the event. They seemed to literally hit the ground running. They did not seem even a little bit confused about who had been the aggressor, or who was at fault. Isn't that interesting?

We have been lied to for the last eight years by the Republicans in power, and it is obvious that policy will continue if John McCain is elected President. And he will also continue to start wars, resulting in the deaths of potentially thousands of people, simply for political gain.