like him or not Putin is very popular in Russia and a very shrewd man. He’d make a formidable ally if he wasn’t determinted to destroy US influence in Europe.
I don’t know who said it, but paraphrasing the quote “Russians are either at your throat, or at your feet”. The point is that they respond best, and are happiest, when they have a strong leader who is not afraid to beat the crap out of them when they mess up.
Putin is definitely that. I think he have himself crowned Tsar if he wanted it. In fact, I think the Russians would love it.
Helping Albanian Muslims kill Yugoslav Christians didn’t help much. It was on Russian TV every night.