What place do the countries of Eastern Europe occupy in the system of international relations?

To date, the Eastern European states do not have a huge weight as players on the international arena. As a rule, these countries are players within certain blocks and associations. However, it is often the Eastern European space that is the battleground for major players at the international level. Certain internal conflicts there often escalate into hot spots of resistance, which require the use of international influence to resolve. These hotbeds are often a field for geopolitical struggles.