Ukraine: Putin’s War for Russia’s “Near Abroad”

Retired US Ambassador John J. Maresca draws on his personal papers to offer a first-hand account of his role in negotiating the end of the Cold War with the USSR. As a special American Ambassadorial envoy, he symbolically opened direct US diplomatic relations with each of the newly independent states from the former USSR following its dissolution. He recounts the situation in the region during that period, and how it has evolved into the situation of today. Maresca analyzes Putin's role and objectives, and concludes that the USA and the West in general must steadfastly oppose Putin's on-going effort to re-assemble Moscowʼs control over the full geographic scope of what was the USSR, starting with Ukraine.

"As a diplomat, ambassador and senior aide to two Secretaries General of NATO, Jack spent much of his life immersed in the long struggle for a lasting peace with Moscow. He was a key member of the delegation at the meetings of the 1970s of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe, which produced the Helsinki Accords, in turn setting the stage for multilateral agreements in Paris in 1990 that, in Jack’s words, constituted the official and practical end of the Cold War. A bit later, at the behest of Secretary of State Jim Baker, Jack visited all the old (and newly freed) satellite states, including Ukraine. Now, says Jack, Vladimir Putin would upend all that. Hell-bent on reviving Russia’s territorial reach, Putin wants these countries back, in one way or another. Hence Ukraine. As I write, President-elect Trump is floating the idea of a negotiated settlement. Jack Maresca’s warning, as I understand it, is simply this: the West cannot cave in, and indeed should pursue a collective, strategic response that counters both the immediate challenges in Ukraine and also Putin’s broader ambition to take back as much as possible the full territory of the old USSR. And the US, he makes clear, can’t go it alone."

—Robert B. Semple Jr., senior editor at the New York Times; Yale Alumni Magazine, March/April 2025.

John J. Maresca is a retired US Ambassador, whose career has spanned decades of diplomatic service and conflict mediation. Born in Italy, he arrived in the US as an infant with his American mother, on the last ship leaving Europe as World War II was beginning. After serving as a US Naval officer, he embarked on a successful career as a diplomat, serving as the Chief of Staff for two Secretaries General of NATO. From that position, he began negotiating with the USSR in Helsinki in 1972 He was the central American official and Ambassador in the long set of negotiations aimed at closing the Cold War between East and West in Europe, through the final summit-level all-European signature session in Paris in 1990. He was then named as the Special US Ambassadorial Envoy to ceremonially open direct US diplomatic relations with each of the “newly independent States from the former USSR,” following the break-up of the USSR. He traveled to each of those new states on that mission, starting with the newly-independent Ukraine. He then became a roving American conflict mediator, seeking to resolve local conflicts in Cyprus, Nagorno-Karabakh, and regions of former Yugoslavia, before retiring from the US diplomatic service. He subsequently became Vice President of the Unocal Corporation (now a part of Chevron), focusing on regions of conflict including Afghanistan and the Caucasus. He has published several books and numerous articles, and has spoken on conflict issues in more than sixty countries, on every continent except Australia.

Ida Manton is a scholar and lecturer in international relations and diplomacy, with focus on negotiations, mediation and conflict resolution. She has worked for IGOs, NGOs, Universities, Diplomatic Academies and Think tanks. She has trained diplomats, business people, military staff and students in topics connected to international negotiation processes, OSCE, cross-cultural communication and storytelling. She has published articles and book chapters on these topics and has been coordinating the OSCE Oral History project “Living Memories”, through which CSCE negotiators share their recollections of how milestone documents and commitments were created.

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