I may be wrong, but I think Putin could have been brought along better than he was. We should have been the ones dealing with him and not the Chinese. If we would have sent 1/10th of the trade to Russia that we did to openly anti-US China, I think we could have made Russia a much more friendly nation. I have held a wait and see attitude with Putin. I don't like what I see these days, but I haven't seen us try to curry favor with Russia either. It's a tough topic.
As for supporting Putin blindly, I think you are absolutely right.
I think you are right about the trade issue, however, the minute I knew Putin was taking over in Russia the hair on my neck stood on end and both Russia and China were cut too much slack by Clinton and it hasn't improved a whole lot.