Uh, no. Great powers never make friends with peer competitors (or potential peer competitors).
If you think the reason the western allies are against Russia is because they're repress gays or don't allow free speech, im sorry to inform you but thats not how power politics works
In order for them to be βlying to us about Russiaβ, theyβd have to be telling us that Russia doesnβt have a beautiful Christian heritage.
But nobody is really using that as a criticism about Russia. What people criticize about Russia is their authoritarian government and aggressive military actions.
In other words, the only person lying here is Candace.
Russia was once our friend. They could be again. That will not happen while Putin is in power.