UN General Assembly
1957

43. Russia’s rulers have long sought domination in the Middle East. In 1949, when the Soviet leaders were seeking a division of the world with Hitler, they stipulated "that the area south of Batum and Baku in the general direction of the Persian Gulf is recognized as the centre of the aspirations of the Soviet Union" [Molotov communication to the German Ambassador. 25 November 1940]. In the immediate post-war period the Soviet Union prolonged its military occupation of Iran; it sought trusteeship over Libya, and it fomented subversion against Greece. 44. Between 1945 and 1949, however, Central Europe became the principal theatre of Soviet activities. In 1949, after the adoption of the Marshall Plan and the conclusion of the North Atlantic Treaty, the Soviet Union shifted its principal effort to the Far East. There it supported the Communist revolution in China, the war in Korea and the war in Indo-China.