Answer:
Stalin justified the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe as a necessary measure to ensure the security of the Soviet Union after World War II. He argued that the Soviet Union had suffered greatly during the war and had lost millions of lives, and therefore needed a buffer zone of friendly states to protect itself from future aggression.
Stalin also believed that the Soviet Union had a responsibility to spread the communist ideology to other countries and to help establish socialist states around the world. He saw the occupation of Eastern Europe as a way to promote this goal.
In addition, Stalin argued that the Soviet Union had played a crucial role in defeating Nazi Germany during World War II and therefore deserved to have a say in the post-war settlement of Europe. He believed that the Soviet Union had earned the right to occupy and influence Eastern Europe as part of its victory in the war.
Stalin and other Soviet leaders did not see their policies and actions in Eastern Europe as expansionist because they viewed the establishment of socialist states as a natural and inevitable outcome of historical progress. They believed that communism was a superior system to capitalism and that it was only a matter of time before it would be adopted worldwide. Therefore, they saw their actions in Eastern Europe as a necessary step towards the eventual triumph of socialism across the globe.