Because in a twisted way, russian government is extremely legalistic, so their actions - or what they would ever even contemplate of doing and not doing - is tied up into Byzantine knots.
Because they are medieval in outlook, expressed in their admiration for "shows of strength" and their obsession for "saving face".

It is said that the same document in russian is nearly twice as long as its' translation in English, because of all the adornments and nuances. As I can't get the nuances in the words being exchanged and the commentaries around it, I wonder if what they say and what they mean has more leeway and is more open to interpretation than what we can pick up from here.