This is the ultimate test if a nation has imperial skills. The empires are not based on brute force (such force is too expensive), they are based on leveraging the influence, interest/curiosity in the local culture, preserving the local powers structure, self-restraint in imposing one's own values etc. English were good at that and until now they control Wales and Scotland.
I think that Russia has these skill in spades. Look at the Korean War and the Warsaw Pact.