A leader of Russia has certain perpetual dilemmas, on top of new and pressing ones. A lot of Americans think that if they were in charge of Russia, they would do things the American way, without knowing that it is not only *not* what the Russian people want and need, but that they would hate every bit of it and fight it every inch of the way.
There is an old German saying that “Russia remains Russia”, and it is quite true. So Putin’s quest is to give Russia what it needs and wants, but in the Russian way, by a Russian leader.
For example, Russia has a split personality, at times wanting to be like westerners, especially Europeans; but at other times they become Slavophilic and Asian, seeking the freedom of the vast, open countryside and the Asian way of doing things. Russians love both, but are uncomfortable being in one way or the other for too long.
Right now they are in a Slavophilic cycle, but Putin knows they cannot be isolationist, that Russia has a chance to still matter in world affairs.
And while Putin is all in favor of cherry picking what he likes from Russian history, be it Tsarist or Soviet, he must steer Russia away from either, because on its current path it is dying.
He wants a tightly controlled democracy, and while he will borrow from the Soviets, he realizes that socialism is an utter disaster; and a dangerous one, enough that he does not want the US taking that path. He realizes that a “Soviet America” would be a huge disaster for the world.
Ideally he would prefer a multipolar world with no nation totally dominant. A balance of power.
In other words, Obama is merely the person who opens the door so that the Russians can waltz in and take over - enslaving us as they always wanted to do.