Schröder on Kosovo - "Moscow had for some time given the impression that it stood on the side of Belgrade out of a kind of pan-Slavic sentiment -- an alliance that the Serbian President Milosevic could use as a trump card. It was to the great credit of the German foreign ministry that it finally persuaded a hesitant Russia that it was in its own interest to withdraw its support for Belgrade."
When NATO bombed Serbia in the 1990s, Russia was too weak to respond. That is no longer the case. ...the boozy, corrupt Yeltsin has been replaced by the new Man of Steel, Vladimir Putin.
What delusional fantasy!! Yeltsin supported Serbia more than Putin! Yeltsin at least sent troops to Kosovo, Putin pulled them out and refuses to send them back!
Gerhard Schroeder, who orchestrated Russia's betrayal of the Serbs now works for Putin! Serbia is a victim of the new Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, they are just too blind to see what is happening right in front of their faces!
By the way, on a historical note, it was Bismarck's siding against the Russians at the Congress of Berlin which ensured World War I. It was Bismarck's machinations which created the alliances which led to World War I, so I think maybe he's not the best guy to look toward.
The alternative facing Russia at the time however was certain defeat in war with (at the least) the British, Austrian, and Ottoman Empires.
This is why Russia took the deal, why Bismarck got involved in the mess with the results you pointed out, and why they say no good deed remains unpunished.