Ukraine-US eight-hour talks in Jeddah: Ministry of Foreign Affairs reveals details
Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Heorhii Tykhyi (Vitalii Nosach, RBC-Ukraine)
Ukrainian and US delegations held talks in Saudi Arabia for eight hours. The actions of the Ukrainian team were remotely directed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, says the spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Heorhii Tykhyi in a Facebook post.
“The negotiations in Jeddah were one of the most interesting I ever participated in. It is about the art of diplomacy, strategic thinking, search for non-standard solutions, a competent balance of flexibility and firmness, the ability to take tactical steps for the sake of the ultimate goal. All of this was demonstrated yesterday by the Ukrainian delegation and, above all, by the President of Ukraine, who remotely directed its actions,” he said.
Tykhyi pointed out that the negotiations lasted for more than eight hours in total - “almost continuously, except for lunch, during which work was also going on.”
“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 showing, that it suddenly becomes possible to break the deadlock and even make difficult compromises,” the spokesman added.
He also called the “emotional and informational background of the meeting” an important factor, which determined the boundaries of the space for compromise and influenced the negotiating positions. According to him, the meeting took place under the gaze of hundreds of TV cameras from around the world and in a thick cloud of “informed sources.”
Another nuance, according to Tykhyi, is the importance of the personal role of the negotiators. The Foreign Ministry spokesman emphasized that the Ukrainian delegation included both the diplomatic and military blocs, “all of which proved to be as professional, principled, and wise as possible.”
“I remember how, at one of the most difficult moments, at the very end, Minister Andrii Sybiha looked at me halfway through the meeting and his expression read 'well well' but also a calm 'everything will be good,'” the Foreign Ministry spokesman wrote.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy played a key role. The spokesperson noted that Zelenskyy remotely “directed the actions of the delegation to the reinforced concrete defense of a number of principled positions and wise flexibility in relation to others, which allowed us to reach a final positive result.”
Tykhyi said that on the plane after the talks, he received confirmation from diplomats that “all processes in Rzeszów have just been resumed.”
He also emphasized that Ukraine had “completely seized the strategic diplomatic initiative and changed the course of the game” during the talks.
Negotiations between Ukraine and the United States
Yesterday, March 11, a meeting of the delegations of Ukraine and the United States took place in Saudi Arabia. The talks took place in Jeddah and lasted eight hours.
Ukraine was represented at the talks by the Head of the Presidential Office Andriy Yermak, Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, and Deputy Head of the President's Office Pavlo Palisa. The United States was represented by US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and National Security Advisor Mike Waltz.
After the meeting, the United States resumed providing military assistance to Ukraine and sharing intelligence.
The US side also proposed a 30-day ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia. Ukraine supported the proposal, while Russia's decision is expected.
Read more about the talks in Saudi Arabia and what Ukraine and the US agreed on in our article.
