I don't think a different regime would have fundamentally acted differently. Russia is too big to be in the EU (Germany and France would never allow it), and too small to be a 'nice' player next to super powers. Animosity towards Russia from the side of eastern Europe was always high, and the US kept using Russia as a useful boogie man, while China is a double-daggered partner.

Russia never had a lot of options, and while it would have been better for Russians living standards to "roll over and accept defeat", this would have been political suicide for any regime.