You don't have to guess. Look at the lands they attacked without provocation since Putin came to power. Zero.

- Chechnya was brutal, but internal.

- Georgia attacked first (despite what is still reported in the US, the UN and OSCE have reported the truth, that the US goaded Georgia into attacking Russia)

- Syria: Syria (a sovereign nation) asked Russia for help fighting US backed Al Queda and ISIS rebels.

Russia is capitalist through and through now. They have huge deposits of natural resources. They were getting very wealthy selling wheat, gas, oil, fertilizer and precious metals to the rest of the word prior to the US backing the coup in Ukraine in 2014.

Russia had no need to conquer Europe when we are (were) all customers of Russian gas and oil.