I'm no expert on Russia, but my take is that they are very much like the Chinese in socio-political mindset.
They don't wanna join the west because they don't wanna get cucked. It will be a losing situation in a free world of competition. Chinese men naturally lose to western white men. Just look plainly at the choices of the chinese foids. When they become westernized, they choose anything but Chinese men.
Chinese and Russians most likely prefer strong authoritarian leaders because of geography and history. Because strong authoritarian leaders are very necessary against very real foreign threats. In the case of China and Russia, foreign military aggression as well as foreigners trying to fuck their foids.
Russia doesn't want Ukraine to whore out to the west. Ukraine would be like a little sister of Russia, and Russia does not wanna see its sister get fucked by western chads, at the same time, get physically threatened by those western chads. Those western chads would be continually fucking his sister non-stop and at the same time, keep threatening to assault or kill him. Based Putin isn't gonna have any of that though.
China one day will do the same to Taiwan imo. But Chinese are a lot more patient than the Russians. They will wait for America to decline or for their military to vastly surpass America's. Only then will the Chinese simply march into Taiwan and there wont be a goddamn thing Taiwan or anyone can do about it.
The Russian military cannot take on NATO, the American military, and Ukraine at the same time. But if it gets to that point Putin will use nukes. He has previously threatened nations with them before. Or more like insinuating them and saying that they are options available to him.