Did they imagine that the Russians were just going to sit quietly on the sidelines while their naval base in Syria was threatened by a US-backed government takeover?
I don’t love the idea of Russia gaining power in the region but they’ve been there all along.
The only reason they’re gaining power now is because we decided to insert ourselves into Syria’s civil war and try to manipulate an outcome.
Meanwhile, our only real allies in the region (Kurds) are still screwed.