I'm not an expert in Russian affairs, but it worries me because we talk about the potential of China, but for Russia, it's not potential. They have thousands of nuclear weapons, they have nuclear delivery capabilities, and they have expeditionary capabilities. It may be that he's simply playing to his base, as he sees it, going into this election, and playing the role of the Czar, the Russian nationalist, and so on.
I just don't know enough about Russian politics, but I do know that it's a potentially dangerous situation, a potentially unstable situation.