Russian President Vladimir Putin unleashed airstrikes on Syrian rebels two days after meeting with President Barack Obama "not just … to be macho" but to send a signal to the United States, Rep. Peter King told
Newsmax TV on Friday.
"Unfortunately, he knows that President Obama is not going to fight back," the New York Republican, who sits on the House Homeland Security Committee, told "The Hard Line" host Ed Berliner. "He will not fight back unless it's a glaring attack."
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Russia began airstrikes against targets in Syria on Wednesday that it said were focused on eliminating the Islamic State, but the U.S. has accused Moscow of supporting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and strengthening his regime by attacking rebel forces.
Putin had met with Obama at the White House on Monday.
At the White House on Friday, Obama slammed the airstrikes, telling reporters that Moscow's actions were self-defeating and vowed not to let the conflict become a U.S.-Russia "proxy war."
King said Putin's strategy for securing his stake in the Middle East will be gradual, similar to his encroachment on Ukraine.
"It's going to be incremental moves by Putin, and President Obama is going to say, 'Do you really want to go to war over this?' And we're going to threaten more sanctions.
"Just like in Ukraine. It was not a full-scale invasion of Ukraine, but they took piece by piece, region by region — and that is what we're going to see in Syria. They're expanding.
"I don't think you're going to see anything frontally against us by Putin," King told Berliner. "You're going to see just this type of slow aggression, gradually increasing his position, making it clear that the U.S. is weak.
"What more of a slap in the face can you have?"
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