Important moments of the negotiations between Ukraine and the US

Heorhiy Tykhyi officially confirmed that Head of State Volodymyr Zelenskyy remotely directed the actions of the Ukrainian delegation

Against this background, the spokesperson for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry drew attention to the duration of the meeting.

What is important to understand is that the negotiations lasted a total of over 8 hours — almost continuously, if you don't count lunch, during which the work didn't stop anyway.

I can only say one thing about the impression of such a long time: historians underestimate the role of human exhaustion in making historical decisions. It is in these last hours of the endgame, when fatigue is already making itself felt, that a way out of the impasse and even difficult compromises suddenly become possible. In short, the one who is able to pull through the last mile on sheer force of will and character wins.

George the Silent

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine

Another extremely important factor was the emotional and informational background of the meeting.

According to Tykhy, it was this that determined the boundaries of the space for compromises and influenced negotiating positions.

We also cannot ignore the fact that these negotiations took place under the sights of hundreds of television cameras from around the world and in a dense cloud of “informed sources.”

The evening before the meeting, the information space was simply filled to the brim with articles from unnamed sources. A kind of anonymous communication between key players. Expectations, attempts to facilitate or disrupt the process, just random statements or interpretations.

According to Tykhy, the personal role of negotiators is also enormously important.

It is worth noting that both the diplomatic and military blocs were represented in the Ukrainian delegation.

I remember how, at one of the most difficult moments, towards the end, Minister Andriy Sybiga looked at me half-turned and his expression read “well, well”, but also a calm “everything will be fine”. In the final stages of work on the draft of the joint statement, which lasted several hours, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy personally played a key role. It was he who directed the delegation’s actions towards the reinforced concrete defense of a number of principled positions and wise flexibility towards others, which allowed for a final positive result.

George the Silent

Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine