Putin wanted all of eastern Europe back under Russian domination. Putin demanded hegemony not only over Ukraine in Dec 2021, but over Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and the Balkan countries by demanding that NATO withdraw from them permanently. Why do you think Finland was suddenly desperate to join NATO even though they had treaties with Russia recognizing their mutual borders?
The demands, spelled out by Moscow in full for the first time, were handed over to the US this week. They include a demand that Nato remove any troops or weapons deployed to countries that entered the alliance after 1997, which would include much of eastern Europe, including Poland, the former Soviet countries of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, and the Balkan countries.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/dec/17/russia-issues-list-demands-tensions-europe-ukraine-nato