Potsdam; a major blight on America's history.
Russia figured they could rule the US. It's still what they are trying to work now aided by the Chinese.
I agree. Putin understood Russia couldn't play superpower's role in longer term without being aided by the Chinese. Based on demographic trends I could bet most of Siberian lands will be populated mostly by the Chinese in 50 years anyway. Therefore Russia HAS to do something about it before it's too late. They cannot counterbalance China on their own so it's better to join them (commom military and political projects - Russian support for Taiwan annexation, and quite recently Shanghai group). Unfortunately for Russia their role will be the weaker partner in that tricky alliance...