You have to be able to look at things from a broader perspective to understand Russia. Something folks on the left seem to have lost the ability to do.
Russia is trying to regain their status as a world power in the world. Status is important in /all/ high up issues (business, politics, sports, etc.) They are hoping that if the US pulls out of the ME then they can play a bigger part in global police work and thus increase their status on the world stage. It's not that they are looking for war, it's that they want to be seen as a strong nation because that facilitates a hundred thousand different things from trade to relationships.