Based on this article from The Economist: An Odd Way to Make Friends: Russia’s Syrian War

Intervention in Syria was supposed to rebuild relations within the West. Unsurprisingly, it is not working. The list of foreign powers stung by Russia continues to grow. At the beginning of the week, Turkey protested after Russian fighters intruded into its airspace, a no-fly zone. The two countries relations are deteriorating as the Russian presence frustrates Turkey’s goal of toppling the regime of Bashar al-Assad. Russian observers say their real goal is not to alienate the West, but to force America to recognize Russia as an equal partner. The fight against ISIS is intended to establish common ground between the two powers.The people of Russia are now extremely confused, and rightfully so. For the past year they have been told to see America as an enemy that sponsors Ukraine fascists, bent on undermining Russian sovereignty. Now, the Russians are being told that Russia and the US are on the same side in the battle against Islamic terror. While Russian’s enjoy the dramatized efforts to stand against the US, they are not in the mood for real isolation or economic sanctions. The new war is being televised on Russian television like a blockbuster film, with dramatic shots of Russian military jets flying across the camera, weatherman forecast favorable bombing weather in the Syrian skies. Russian television has created a virtual reality that excludes any suffering by Russian soldiers.

In my opinion, I do not think Russia’s plan was to rebuild relations with the West, that just happened to be a potential benefit. I believe the main goal was to shore up Assad for future negotiations. Maybe in a few moths we will understand Putin’s interesting strategy.