Even if they didn't have a functioning nuclear arsenal, do they want a conventional war with Russia? Do they want to occupy Russia? Russia is a massive landmass with over twice the population of Iraq and Syria combined. Do we really want to spend the next century dealing with the Russian equivalent of ISIS? Hell, in a power vaccuum the "useless" Russian nuclear arsenal will now be in the hands of thousands of non-state actors who are all pissed off at the west.
Even if they didn't have a functioning nuclear arsenal, do they want a conventional war with Russia? Do they want to occupy Russia? Russia is a massive landmass with over twice the population of Iraq and Syria combined. Do we really want to spend the next century dealing with the Russian equivalent of ISIS? Hell, in a power vaccuum the "useless" Russian nuclear arsenal will now be in the hands of thousands of non-state actors who are all pissed off at the west.
Don't forget the Swedes, they got fucked up at Poltava
Poland-Lithuania and the Mongol Golden Horde, though. Not that I disagree with your main point.
(Granted, Russia post-Tsardom is a vastly different beast)
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