Story highlights Clapper portrayed the increased Russian support for close ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's roiling civil war as impulsive

President Barack Obama said earlier this month that Russia was heading for a "quagmire" in the country

Washington (CNN) Moscow's escalating militancy in Syria comes not because of careful strategic decisions but rather because Russian President Vladimir Putin is "winging this," Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told CNN Thursday in an exclusive interview.

Clapper said Putin was "very impulsive and opportunistic" as he increased Russian support for close ally President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's roiling civil war.

"I personally question whether he has some long-term strategy or whether he is being very opportunistic on a day-to-day basis," Clapper told CNN's Jim Sciutto. "And I think his intervention into Syria is another manifestation of that."

When asked if Putin had a plan for Syria, Clapper said Putin didn't.

"What his long term plan is, I'm not sure he has one," Clapper said. "I think he is kind of winging this day to day."

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