sphere of influence

Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and recent steps to test the alliance have highlighted Poland’s long-ignored warning that Russia, under Putin, wants to resurrect its traditional sphere of influence in Eastern Europe.

Former US President Abraham Lincoln officially declared Liberia's independence in 1862 but the country retained a lot of US heritage and it remained in the American "sphere of influence" during the colonial period.

Putin has sought to return Ukraine to Russia's sphere of influence and said last week that "the whole of Ukraine is ours".

The broad view is that, for the US, countering China and keeping the Pacific in their sphere of influence is still crucial.

In Europe's east, the Soviet Union's former sphere of influence, people fear President Trump's attitude to Ukraine will only embolden President Putin in his expansionist drive.