CargoOne:
I think that's traditional thinking of the type that led the established European majors to have markets lost to new competitors before they realised it. There is considerable pressure from Russia, right from the top at Presidential level, to integrate their country much more into Europe, which is now seen as their natural trading area, while the now considerable penetration of European goods into Russia (not least Airbuses!) shows it is a two-way street.
It's not there yet but there's been so much change in the last 10 years and the next few will be equally volatile. A liberalised air agreement with the EU would be a tremendous place for them to start, and an airline that gets in at the beginning of that would stand to gain immensely.