You're reading: Poroshenko says Russia surrounding itself with belt of frozen conflicts

NEW YORK - Russia is deliberately creating a belt of frozen conflicts around itself to retain its influence on the neighboring countries, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko has said.

“In the more than 23 years since the dubious procedure of the permanent Security Council membership handover from the former Soviet Union to the Russian Federation, Russia has not just started hybrid wars. In reality, to retain clout in neighboring countries, for decades Russia has deliberately been creating a belt of instability around itself. One can talk of Nagorno-Karabakh, Transdniestria, Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Crimea, Donbas,” Poroshenko said in his speech to the UN General Assembly.

All of these are protracted conflicts, which supported by, or directly related to Russia, he explained.

“But the Kremlin goes further on. These days the Russian ‘men in green’ tread on Syrian land,” the president added.