That's very short sighted Rictor. We rely on, god help us, companies like Shell to produce affordable oil in the western world. If someone screws them, they are generally screwing us. In addition to that financial inconvenience, this move also gives Russia far more bartering power at the international level - and while Russia may have crippling financial problems and an internal insurgency in the form of Chechen rebels, they're still a very ambitious people (at least from the top down).
You may not like the status quo, but you'll dislike the alternatives more.
I don't mind Russia having more political influence. It seems to be sort of a given that when pundits or reporters these days talk about an ascendent Russia it's implicitly a terrible, shadowy thing. With the way the other world powers are acting now (the US, of course, but also Britain (Thatcher was apparently "very sad" to hear of Pinochets death.)) Russia no better or worse than the rest of them. I see the present mild quasi-authoritarianism as a natural backlash against ten years of poverty, corporate looting, decay, crime and non-existant government.
Also, yeah, the Russians are ambitious - they got knocked down to the dirt and kicked around for a decade by nations who were supposed to be gracious winners. LIke you said, Russia has more than enough internal problems to worry about, although the economy and the Chechens aren't really at the top of the list. Chechnya has been subdued and is ruled with an iron fist by Ramsan Kadyrov - they're now rebuilding and any significant insurgency has been eliminated. And the financial situation is nowhere near as dire as in the 90s or early 2000s. Corruption, a declining population and NATO expansion are probably the things that keep Putin awake at night.
