That wasn't true from after the German reunification through to Putin's latest ascent. NATO should have changed during that time but it didn't.the Russian threat to Europe is greater now than it ever was under the Soviet Union.
I can't help but wonder if the US had had a capable leader with an interest in foreign affairs if things wouldn't be very different now. If the US had stepped back from (not walked away or abandoned, just stepped back from) NATO after the Berlin Wall fell, could the EU have stepped up and established defenses suited to the new potential Russian threats? If they did, would Russia be the threat it is now?
I think the answers are yes and no, respectively. Which means, long term, that the effect of the US babysitting NATO for so long has been to allow the Russian threat to grow without tailored, effective responses being put in place.
I really believe if we had done the right thing back then, we would be in better shape today.
But responsible historians don't play "what if", so perhaps I should just take my little fantasy and lock it away somewhere.