Will Russia never be anything more than a regional power?

Russians put the first human (also Russian), animal and satellite in space and landed (Luna2 probe) on the moon first. 

Average Russian IQ 97 

Average Nigerian IQ 84 

Average Haitian IQ 67 

Average Gambian IQ 66 

Average Equatorial Guinea IQ 59 (lowest on Earth). 

blacks are intellectually inferior to White people.

Very likely now....yes...

First, study history and learn how and why Western rulers thwarted Russia's ambitions to control a "warm-water" Mediterranean seaport since the time of Catherine the Great.... Then study how Putin achieved that ambition with complete ease (the last time Biden was in the White House...by the way...)

Next, if you've travelled in Europe the last decade or so, you may have noticed the vast amount of advertising showing Africa and the Middle East as centers for banking, tourism and trade...

The simple fact is that Arabic nations have been shifting from oil to finance for decades. Meanwhile, much of Western Europe is becoming economically unsustainable because of  shrinking, aging native populations and regulatory environments that have crippled domestic industries.  Their futures are clearly tied to Africa for its resources and labor pool...and to the Middle East for its oil and financing...

For most of the 20th Century, any European or global power that wanted to exert influence in those regions had to answer to Britain first and then the USA..Thanks to our bases in the region, we were the only global power that could put 20,000 to 30,000 troops on the ground within days...

Thanks to Putin merrily skipping over Obama's "red line"... Russia is now building a base that will not only house a nuclear fleet, but also 40,000 ground troops and enough armor and air power to provide them ample cover...

In short, Russia is now arguably the #1 player in a region seen as vital to the long term survival of Western Europe.  Considering China's ambitions in Africa, that makes Russia much more than a "regional" power.

Well..that's what we said when Hitler started "annexing" land Germany claimed to have lost during the Treaty of Versailles.

Would you be willing to let Russia reclaim East Germany?

Some of those former USSR puppet States are now sovereign nations and members of NATO...

Have you read art. 5 of the NATO agreement? - "It commits each member state to consider an armed attack against one member state, in Europe or North America, to be an armed attack against them all."