If the Russians formed an alliance and pushed for military bases around our borders, would we not feel threatened?
Russia has been invaded twice by the West in the past two centuries. Russia did not preemptively attack the French Empire or German Reich even though it had every right to do so.
If NATO had been dissolved when the Cold War ended, perhaps Ukraine would not be a point of conflict today.
The West insists on ignoring Russian interests and as long as it does so - there won’t be any real movement towards building a common European home.
I would like to point out the misconception you have about the WW2. Listing from north to south Russia invaded Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania while they were secretly allied with Nazi Germany. Molotov-Ribbentrop pact secret protocol drew a dividing line in the middle of Europe and Hitler and Stalin invaded the countries on their side of the line. Poland was split by that line so they gracefully held a joint victory parade in Brest-Litovsk.
