I think that Russia is backtracking from it's previous position after it bit the Bear back in it's @$$.
It, what? What bit the Bear back in its ass?
US is the de-facto status quo superpower, and we may have to tolerate it's dealings with our enemies because of our geo-political compulsions, but we do not face similar compulsions while dealing with Putin's Russia.
Does that mean India, is abala/bechara/helpless/useless. Is that the case you are trying to make?
For those interested and with longer memories - do you remember the hue and cry that was raised when the Americans Minister Casper Weinberger came to India promised that they would help develop Indian defence industry and then promptly the next of his return announced a massive military package for Pakis which included an AWACS supply ostensibly for keepiing tabs on Soviet aircrafts in Afghanistan. Rajiv Gandhi was the sucker looking for these things from US instead Weinberger gave him a #@$!^&.
It was obvious the AWACS was for use against India. Afghanistan-Pakistan border has such a long shadow zone that AWACS would have a damn hard time preventing the Soviets from doing anything.
Unfortunately for us the Soviets had only just made their first generation AWACS and they were not exactly sure if they would like to offer it to India. (Just like FGFA today, where the Russians want to reduce our workshare.)
So Rajiv like a true munna raised a hue and cry and proved to the world that we are better Ameriki munnas then Pakis were. Funnily Zia was focused on Nukes and declared that Pakis have no security threat from Soviets. Pakis acted smarter this one time and Gen. Sundarji later almost praised them for that patience.
The reality was that American newspapers were reporting that the Pakis had already tested in 1986, before Weinberger came to India. Obviously the Americans were turning a fait-accompli (Paki nukes supplied by Chinese) into an opportunity (undermining India). Americans fed that info to their own press to make it look ominous to India.
Regan obviously hated Paki Nukes, because a Paki with Chinese Nukes, meant losing Pakis as American Munna. So the ever wise Americans thought - lets kill two stones with one bird - titilate pakis with new stuff and threaten Rajiv into submission. Before this date Rajiv wanted a Nuke himself. After this date in 1988 Rajiv stated in UN how world should be nuclear free etc etc. Rajiv exuded the confidence level of Rahul Gandhi. American bet did not fall too far. Rajiv abandoned his own Nuke test ambitions, proved he was an American munna.
Prior to this strange merry-go-round, the resident wisdom was American-Pakistani-Chinese Axis being a threat to India. Which they were. But after this point Americans became lily white friends of the downtrodden abala/majboor/worthless Indians
. And Rajiv played a part in this. Much later we got to know of how the Congress Party of LBS/Indira steal had gotten compromised.
Americans never wanted to supply AWACS to anybody. The true effectiveness of AWACS was seen by the world for the first time only a few years back in Yom Kippur War 1973 and supplying it to Pakis would have been like supplying F-22 Raptor to Chad in year 2000.
Much later we got the AWACS as the world saw that we were intent on making it ourselves and making progress.
Lesson:
1) Never salivate
2) Go indigenous, only then we will get everything offered on a platter
3) Never believe an American
4) Media (MSM & SM) is American tool
5) Russians are willing to supply the latest but not part with IPR and they are not averse to we mixing-and-matching things so long as their IPR is not messed around with.
6) Stop feeling like an abala/majboor/bechara.