This is my humble opinion. Russia knows its oil position and it's strong. She is the #2 oil producer in the world behind Saudi Arabia (
CIA Fact book).
Russia is currently positioning itself in the pro-Iranian middle. If there are threats from Iran it will be directed at the West. Any detrimentally destibalizing dynamic in the Middle East region benefits Russia. Russia sits pretty when the dust settles. She gains or loses nothing.
Juxtapose this with Russia's recent history of strong arm tactics leveraging its natural gas. I see a global game that they're playing. The game is world energy. If you thought OPEC was bad, think of a newly resurgent Russia with Topol-M hypersonic nukes in their left hand and oil in their right.
Obviously this assumes that the government of Russia abandons it democratic views in favor of oil money.
We need to engage Russia more than we are doing. The reality is that we need Russia on our side both in this war on terror, in the struggle with China, and economically. Putin has definitely not moved in the direction that we want him to go, but in the long run, our future depends on enlisting Russia on our side, and for some reason, Washington seems unable to see that.