After hearing about the Saudis, things got quite different for me. The way I understand it, Saudi want to punish Iran. Iran have ties with Syria and Russia have decided to stand on Assad's side. Nasty. The problem I have with the Saudis is they are funding the loons of IS. And friends I have from Syria much prefer Assad. They were against the whole idea of overthrowing him, long before it started. Because he wasn't great, but with him in power, their relatives were safe. Now it's open season on them. And all of them support Putin for standing up against the rest of the world. They knew what was gonna happen and it still surprises me that the West didn't. Or didn't care.
Putin is clearly not a likable man. Russian airplanes and ships are quite aggressive in the Baltic sea at the moment. Swedish military and civilian aircraft have had to deal with it recently. Having read Politovskaya's book about his regime is rather enlightening. Putin makes Al Capone look like a model citizen.
But if I had to pick sides, Putin or the Saudis, then I go with Putin. And it doesn't please me that it could be their making that causes an economic crisis in Russia. With everything that follows from it. My guess is it will force Putin to appear strong. And the last thing we need is a desperate Putin.