Quote Originally Posted by Burney View Post
The entire history of Russia since Peter The Great has been about Russia attempting to expand its territories, a. NATO wasn't developed for a laugh. It was developed as a westward check to that historical reality. It still exists for that purpose.
NATO did its job during the cold war. It helped keep the main peace in a multi-polar world, and perhaps should have disbanded with the USSR. Since then NATO has been an aggressive tool of the USA.

Russia doesn't need more territory, it needs peace and good relations. You mentioned allies - it now has a strong alliance with China and is a key player in the BRI and SCO projects, and is the only power with good relations with all the countries in the middle east - including Israel, KSA, Syria and Iran.

Trump is portrayed as a lunatic but might yet be a peacemaker. He wants to get on with Russia and China, and wants peace in Korea. The place he might not want peace though is Iran.

To go back to the original point - he also wants to sell his more expensive LNG to Germany, who would prefer to buy cheaper energy from Russia.