Putin's Russia requires the United States of America as its enemy.

[DetlefK]

2. I strongly disagree. Russia doesn't want to "drag the world down to its level." Quite the opposite.

Just like the US, Russia has a myth of "Russian Exceptionalism".

1. Russia regards itself as the successor of the Byzantine Empire, which in turn was one of the two successors of the Roman Empire. (The West-Roman Empire was taken over by the nobles of german tribes in a putsch and became the founding-stone for the German Empire.)
Russia regards itself as the final bastion of honor and morals in a corrupt, decadent world.

That's why they adore their orthodox church despite decades of communist rule branding religion as something evil. That's why they hate the liberal attitude of "the West". That's why Russia goes out of its way to make the lives of drug-addicts and AIDS-patients as horrible as possible.

2. Though nominally an international alliance, Russia effectively installed itself as the ruler of the Soviet Union and turned it into a russian empire. Russia got respect because of the power of the Soviet Union. Then the Soviet Union collapsed and Russia lost all that. Except that Russia refuses to admit that and still thinks that it deserves the same political and diplomatic impact as if it were one of the major powers on the planet.

That's why "the West" sees agression when Russia wields influence, while Russia sees it as defence. To Russia, Ukraine and Georgia never counted as independent countries. That's why Russia considers it defensive measures when it invades those countries.