Quoting M-Beloved: "Their idea from ancient times is to make one country from the Atlantic to the Pacific and to subjugate the various white ethnicity (Slavic races) into one nationality."

That precisely is anathema to politicians like Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama and so many others in democratic countries. I'd say that many have misinterpreted the address of Hillary to Vladimir. His annexation of any Slavic nation was as greatly important to him as it is infuriating to democratic norms (as defined for this purpose).

So this is really very personal to Putin. He is exhilarated to have paraded the American democratic system as an oligarchy, taking it very lightly. The essential key to his victory was the Trump presidency. Merchants only know to follow that money, they simply do not possess the instincts of advanced geo-politics. Easy really does it.