Two days later, with airstrikes being reported from Aleppo in northern Syria, Russia and the U.S. were openly blaming one another. That set the stage for Russian President Vladimir Putin to return the goodwill gesture after a botched coup against Erdogan in July. Iran Iran and Russia share an antagonist in the West, and a friend in Bashar Assad, whom Iran is also supporting with soldiers and weapons. Obama has long wanted to disentangle his country from the Middle East, and Moscow is exploiting the empty space. The collapse of the Soviet Union shook the Russian president to the core, perhaps because, for him, it was so unexpected.

Source: National Post September 23, 2016 10:30 UTC