2 days after meeting with American President Barack Obama at the United Nations in NY, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered airstrikes in Syria.

In addition, Putin warned Washington to keep U.S. fighter jets out of Syrian airspace.

The start of airstrikes by Russian warplanes in Syria this morning caught Obama and his administration totally off guard.

A cynical Senator John McCain blamed Obama’s “inaction” against ISIS in Syria during a hastily arranged speech on Capitol Hill.

McCain criticized Obama for drawing a line in the sand in Syria and then “retreating” and doing nothing to stop ISIS.

Calling Putin a “thug and a bully,” McCain reserved his harshest words for Obama’s “total lack of American leadership.”

“It is tragic. It is tragic my fellow Americans that we have reached this point. A Syrian conflict that has killed more than 200,000 people; created the worst refugee crisis in Europe since WW2; spawned a terrorists army of tens of thousands; and now created a platform for a Russian autocrat to join with an Iranian theocrat to prop up a Syrian dictator. It did not have to be this way.”

He added: “We are still the strongest nation in the world. Now it’s time to act like it.”

The White House hurriedly released a statement denying reports that Russian warplanes are targeting ISIS.

Wow. Putin to Obama: “Checkmate!”