re: Meanwhile: Turkey has invaded Syria

They are practical, but if the story I relayed in my previous post has any meaning, then they aren't interested in Kurdish autonomy if the Kurds remain in the US orbit. Russia has to allay fears to Assad that Turkey will remain in Northern Syria for the long haul, and in that metric I do not see them keeping Assad and advocating for Kurdish federalism. It's one or the other, and that their other allies, Iran, are pro-Assad and anti-Kurd, puts the Kurds in a situation where either the US has to help them or they will be subject the whims of larger powers. That was the gambit the Kurds took, and it's failed them once already.