Quote Originally Posted by Fragony View Post
Well they are clever. The west is the dealbreaker here the west shouldn't creep up on their borders and that's exactly what is being done anyway. I wonder how long it takes before the Russians feel too cornered by the Nato, at some point they will and they would be right
Russia has been trying to increase its sphere of influence since at least the 1800s. Western Europe has been trying to contain them; in the Far East they have been jostling with China and Japan - both who would be keen to have territories returned that Russia annexed. They take what they can when they can. As do we.

Russia is as always picking for weaknesses from the Arctic circle to the Med. And in Syria they're having quite a lot of success as well as Ukraine. They're really doing well at getting the maximum results for the minimum effort.