What Oli has stated is undoubtedly correct. The unspoken caveat to all of this is that everyone is ultimately in it for himself.

IMO, this is the proper context in which to understand Michael's dealings with Roth, at least prior to the assassination attempt: Michael did business with Hyman Roth. Michael respected Hyman Roth. But Michael never trusted Hyman Roth.

Whether Michael's initial intention had been to do a straight deal with Roth (which might explain his friendliness with Johnny Ola, etc.) or to execute a behind-the-scenes takeover of Roth's empire, is not clear to me. But either way, he still needed Frankie to play along - either to prevent Roth from scuttling the deal, or to keep Roth placated long enough for Michael to take his revenge, and possibly to take over Roth's empire.

In any event, I'd be reluctant to characterize this as "taking sides" against Pentangeli in favor of Roth. Michael was nothing if not opportunistic and pragmatic. If he saw a chance to make a huge score with/against Roth, I doubt he'd allow his relationship with Frankie to hold him back. But he was wise enough to realize that he stood more to lose than to gain by throwing Frankie under the bus, so to speak. So then I can only surmise that whatever he asked of Frankie was intended to be more of a strategic temporary retreat, than a permanent withdrawal.

~ Q