Sen. Chris Coons (D-DE) on Monday said that President Obama’s approach to the Syrian conflict was partly to blame for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s de facto seizure of the Ukrainian Crimea.
“I frankly this is partly a result of our perceived weakness, because of our actions in Syria,” Coons said at an American Israel Public Affairs Committee conference, according to Slate.
Coons claimed that Obama’s failure to act after pronouncing use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime as a “red line” weakened the United States’ image and emboldened Putin’s incursion into Ukraine.
“I frankly think we’ve lost some ground in the region because our vital allies don’t believe that the United States has the will, the determination, the courage to act, after a red line was drawn, was crossed, and we didn’t act in Syria,” Coons said.
