[adorno]

Those days when Russia had any ideas of expansion are long gone

You need to have a conversation with Putin, because, he would disagree with you 100%. Putin still longs for his old Soviet Union, and so do a lot of members of the Kremlin. Putin has stated himself that, his intentions are to restore the old Soviet Union. He's been busy doing so, and only those that are blind would ignore what's been happening in and around Russia.
br> BTW, if Putin wanted to win over Ukraine, why did he need to do it by force? Why not promise them a better future and win them over through actions that were not violent?

And,Putin's excuses for invading Ukraine are false and invented by him. But, simple-minded people can't see through the dictators' lies.

[Brian Griffin]

“if Putin wanted to win over Ukraine, why did he need to do it by force?”

Putin probably made an ultimatum and Ukrainians let the clock tick too long.

“This morning, the British ambassador in Berlin handed the German government a final note stating that unless we heard from them by 11 o’clock that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and that consequently this country is at war with Germany.”

Neville Chamberlain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom_declaration_of_war_on_Germany_(1939)