The Russians are just posturing; they have no real interest of full blown war. Their population is on the incline now, their economy is doing better, the old guard “soviet” (read elderly) is being pulled into this century by Putin while the younger generation is enjoying a few better things in life and their treasury is starting to fill back up; why would they want a war?
Why wouldn't they want to prevent terrorists from over-running Syria? Why wouldn't they protect their base in Syria?
I'm at the point where I wish they'd go in to protect Christian villages from US-subsidized "freedom fighters".
How did it get this bizarre?