I don’t think events in US influenced Putin too much. The catalyst for all this was the Ukrainian revolution. Although having a weak President in US is probably a nice bonus for him.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foundations_of_Geopolitics
Ukraine is just another box to check in the long march to establish a Russian master race.
I think the plan is like an underwear gnomes business plan, but it seems to be working for them.