[FpUser]

>"...But for much of recent history, the US was seen as a lesser risk than a Russian invasion. Whether that is still the way the risks balance..."

Can't tell about the past where the risks of war with USSR were valid, but I think Russia invading Germany or Italy in the future is pure BS.

[AnimalMuppet]

Well, influential people (that is, people fairly close to Putin) in Russia are saying that, after Ukraine, Russia will take Poland. Yeah, that's not Germany, still less Italy. But it's much closer to Germany than I would be comfortable with if I were German...

[Edit: First example I could find: https://www.newsweek.com/putin-ally-says-poland-next-ukraine...

I believe that Medvedev also said similar things, but I can't immediately find a link.]

[abyssin]

Could you provide links for these declarations?

[FpUser]

Duma does not make any major decisions. They just rubber stamp what Putin tells them to. Medvedev is Putin's toy. Listening to them is the same as to some western lunatics who while formally being part government spit some bullshit like "the world flat."