"I'd state unequivocally that there would be no more (U.S.) Export-Import loans, that the United States would not support any further IMF funding until this thing is brought to some kind of reasonable conclusion," McCain said aboard his campaign bus Monday night.

His return to the campaign trail following a family vacation is expected this week to feature McCain's appeal for better citizenship among Americans and especially presidential candidates -- an apparent jab at President Clinton and the controversies and allegations that have troubled his Democratic administration.

Still, McCain today disputed the notion that Clinton is the personal target of a new round of ads his campaign is airing in South Carolina. The ads, McCain told reporters, are intended mainly to criticize the president's military policy.

"We're not running this campaign to be an anti-Clinton campaign," McCain said.

He suggested that the president should be aggressive in condemning the action in Chechnya, especially with the elevation of Putin after the surprise resignation of Russian President Boris Yeltsin on New Year's Eve.

Putin enjoys widespread public approval because of his no-nonsense style and his tough handling of the Russian offensive in separatist Chechnya. Many Russians support the war as the only way to protect the nation from terrorist attacks such as the apartment bombings -- blamed on Chechen militants -- that killed over 300 people in September.

"You reach a point where you have to take a stand on certain issues and I believe that a tacit acceptance of what the Russians are doing has worse long-term consequences than making it clear to them that there is a price to pay," McCain said.

Putin's test, McCain said, will be whether he aggressively moves to stamp out his country's rampant corruption.

"If it's going to be business as usual, then they have further to fall," McCain said. "If he wants to control the country then he's got to take care of the corruption."

But it is Putin's role in Chechnya that prompts McCain's mistrust the most, he said.

"It's terribly disturbing to see how Mr. Putin trod this path to power. It was through Chechnya," McCain said. "A year ago, nobody had heard of Putin. Now he orchestrates this incredibly brutal offensive in Chechnya, and the popularity of his government skyrockets."

Touching down a few miles away in Manchester, Texas Gov. George W. Bush voiced similar concerns.

"I'm troubled by the fact that Mr. Putin has gained popularity as a result of Chechnya," Bush said. "I'm hopeful that he will lead his country to substantive and real reforms."

It was McCain's first appearance back on the campaign trail since spending the holiday with his family in Costa Rica. Polls showing he has a shot at beating Bush here next month had McCain chanting from a cartoon he watched over the break.

"Happy, happy, joy, joy!" he sang as he climbed on the bus.

McCain's first campaign stop of the new year was a town hall meeting at Amherst Middle School's cafeteria, which was packed with several hundred residents. Former Sen. Warren Rudman was at his side.

Appealing to voters' feelings in the season of holiday bill paying, McCain told those present that he would work hard to prevent Internet taxes. His aides said that during the 1999 holiday season Americans would have paid about $600 million in sales taxes on Internet sales of $10 billion to $12 billion.

McCain also said he long had expected his former competitor, Elizabeth Dole, to endorse Bush, the front-runner for the 2000 GOP nomination. Her support, announced today, will "probably ... be of some help to Governor Bush," McCain acknowledged.

"I think endorsements are very helpful to a degree," he added. "Especially in a state like New Hampshire, they judge you on you."