He may wish to be on their side, but I see no practical way that a foreign force can compete with the Russian bear on what is practically their territory. Sorry to say, I don’t see any way any sort of Western-force adventure can have a positive outcome in this situation. And maybe that is purely shortsidedness on my part.
Well, IRBMs parked along the border are quite the deterrent.
When the Russians invaded Afghanistan the Afghanis ran circles around them. It was only over-whelming fire power that saved the Russkies from defeat.