Russia looks like it wants to be once again taken seriously as a global military and political power. Sending gun boats to support Syria and overtly opposing sanctions against Iran, makes me wonder what they want to achieve in the Middle East. The common element of these actions is that they block moves being taken by the US/West.
Other than being a ego asserting blocking force I can't see how they hope to directly benefit. Which of course begs the question of how far are they would be prepared to go. If there was real shooting, would they back off or push back?
