Russia's military intervention in Syria was not taken lightly by Saudi Arabia's ruling family, which sees Moscow's actions as bolstering support for their Shiite foe Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and as a threat to the Sunni rebel groups that Riyadh has been supporting since the start of the uprising in 2011. But with the kingdom's hands tied by the ongoing war in Yemen, plus fiscal pressures due to the low oil price, its involvement in Syria must be kept at arm's length.
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