Explanation
The losses of Germany on the eastern front are widely believed to be the most significant factor in defeating Nazi Germany and the USSR won the battle of Berlin, the final battle before the German capitulation. Thus Europe widely believed (for a good reason) that the USSR was the main contributor in defeating Germany. With the cold war the perception of the USSR became a lot worse in western countries like France and with increasing anti-USSR sentiment the view flipped to viewing the USA as the deciding factor. The USSR (and the Russian Federation today, even if its government is very anti USSR) viewed itself as the most important force in defeating Germany, especially because the USSR had the biggest amount of deaths. It is worth noting that the USSR was at least commercially allied with Nazi Germany until June 22, 1941 and there was an agreement between the nations on which parts of Europe each could invade and which where reserved for the other.
Wrong, Khrushchev was the first one to say they wouldve been defeated if not for lend lease, soviet leadership after stalin tried to be friendly with west and betrayed socialism. There is no concrete proof either stalin or zukhov said it. USSR wouldve sailed through even without lend lease, altho they wouldve been much weaker after war and wouldve taken more damage. Most of the lend lease arrived after battle of stalingrad