Being the 'un-NATO' kid to the Arab world

"... “Russian leaders feel they have been burned over and over again by the US in the Security Council,” he says. “They will cite the example of Iraq, of course, but it goes back to the former Yugoslavia, and NATO going ahead without UN approval on a bombing campaign there,” Saunders adds.“They even add Iran to their list, and talk about how the US and the EU went ahead with their own sanctions on Iran after the Security Council adopted what they thought was a common way forward.”
Russia is hardly a newcomer to the Middle East, having cultivated relationships with several states during the Cold War. Syria in particular was a Soviet client and most of its arms are of Russian origin...."