Russia has tried joining NATO before, NATO wasn’t really interested. It’s one of the main reasons Russia is convinced NATO is inherently hostile to Russia.
That is absolutely not why Russia dislikes NATO, it’s because NATO was built to defend against russia (CCCP/URSS which was led by russia).
That’s also why the anti-bully club rejected the bully
Well, yes, NATO was built to oppose Russia, that’s why they refused Russia membership, and why Russia considers NATO inherently a threat. And why “Russia joins NATO” is a non-starter, Pution or no Putin.
Defending from something doesn’t really mean opposing something in this sense.