We kinda already deal with Puting and Russia and have for a while now. We run joint military exercises to improve our military readiness for terrorist threats, we trade between our countries, work together on the Intl Space Station and very play well together in NATO.
The “western world” did not deal with Stalin. He reigned pretty much unchallenged until the end.
And Putin is not a “Pussycat”. He is not as brazen as Stalin, but much more insidious, and no less evil.
That is why conservatives love him so much.