Although the Soviet Union remained neutral, it was viewed with suspicion by the European confederation (especially Poland) and the USA because of its Pact with Germany (Wikipedia:Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact). After WWII it refused to hand back territory taken from countries like Poland, which lost a huge amount of territory. As a result of Europe denied to Russia, it vies for influence in former European colonies in Africa and Asia (but not going after the Middle East because of its vast Muslim population) and Latin America (which really irritates the USA.)