The comparison between the treaty of Versailles and the collapse of the USSR seems like one hell of a false equivalence, and suggesting anybody cater to it seems like trying to beat Putin at a rigged game.

Yeah, Versailles was a terrible solution in hindsight. But Germany had quite a bit of culpability in the millions of lives lost in the war, and the harsh terms can be understood from that perspective.

The USSR collapsed under its own weight. The other Soviet states chose to become independent. It’s literally nothing but petulant entitlement for the Russian Federation to lay claim to any part of them now.

If they want a more regional power base to counter NATO, perhaps they should try diplomacy rather than dick swinging, manipulation and conquest.