Crunch time will come when it is time to replace the Sunni ISIS group with someone else in that geography. Will it be Russia's ally, Iran? There will be a lot of resistance to that.
More than anything else, I think Russia would like sanctions to be lifted. They will cooperate.
These days, you have to do more than just take off your shirt to get respect.
Sorry. Mouth/nose....same response from me. He got stabbed in the back. It wasn’t about feelings.
If you pay attention to what Russians say, you find out that they were dissatisfied with their previous leaders because they saw them as being America’s puppets. They rate Putin very high because they see him as being loyal to them and bringing back some order out of some years of anarchy. Putin will not bow to Obama with or without sanctions. Again, listening to Russians you will learn that they are mad that NATO and especially the U.S. broke the agreement of the nineties to not expand toward their borders. Russia’s complaints just got ignored, they reacted and then they were called the aggressors. They would not bow then. They will not bow now.
How it will all end I can only guess. I can tell you it is not in their makeup to be submissive. They will do what they see is best for their own security and independence. They do not want to take orders from Obama or anyone else. Without listening to them, you will never be able to guess what they might do or why.
Obama wants to be king of the world, but he expects the U.S. to bow to U.N. power. If we ever recover our sanity and courage, we will fight again for our own independence.