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Iron diplomacy

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The first foreign delegation to Kyiv during the 2022 invasion meeting with Ukrainian leaders in front of the situation room after arriving by rail[a]
US secretary of state Antony Blinken on the train to Kyiv

"Iron diplomacy" (Ukrainian: залізна дипломатія, romanized: zalizna dyplomatiia) refers to the practice of transporting world leaders from Poland through Ukraine via rail since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9] The expression was coined by Oleksandr Kamyshin, the head of Ukrainian Railways, because many diplomats were being shuttled by train to and from Kyiv, the capital city, as the use of Ukrainian airspace was impractical due to the invasion.[10][11][9] In addition, the first foreign leaders to visit Kyiv had decided to avoid travelling from Poland to Ukraine via a Polish military jet, in case Russia interpreted it as an escalating move.[12] The journeys, including US President Joe Biden's 2023 visit, begin in Poland with a flight to Rzeszów-Jasionka Airport and then transfer to Przemyśl Główny railway station, where the visiting leaders board an overnight train to Kyiv.[13]

Oleksandr Kamyshin, head of Ukrainian Railways

Rail system

External media
Images
image icon A conductor showing the dining car[14]
image icon A well-furnished meeting room[14]
image icon The first foreign delegation in transit[14]
image icon Von der Leyen amongst furnishings[16]
Video
video icon Scholz and Draghi in Macron's room[15]

Since the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine's airspace has been closed and its roads have become unreliable due to fighting.[16] As a result, the country has been forced to rely heavily on its rail system for transport, including for humanitarian aid, refugees, weapons, and food for export.[16][10] As the rail system is crucial in Ukraine's resistance to the invasion, Ukrainian Railways has continued to run despite repeated attacks against the system, such as the attack on Kramatorsk station.[10] Security has also increased, and Aleksandr Kamyshin, who runs Ukrainian Railways, is now armed and accompanied by two bodyguards, keeps his schedule and location secret, and avoids physical contact with his family.[10][b]

Diplomats and other world leaders who wish to travel through Ukraine are faced with a similar lack of options, so they regularly take part in Kamyshin's iron diplomacy program.[16] The train ride takes nearly 10 hours.[17] Ukraine also provides a security detail for the visiting leaders, and Kamyshin also keeps their travel details secret, but sometimes information ends up being publicized before the delegation has left Ukraine, which increases the risk of an attack.[16][18]

Carriages

One of the carriages used in the iron diplomacy program was originally constructed for rich tourists to the Crimean peninsula.[16][14] Completed in 2014, it was used only a few times before Russia annexed the peninsula early that year.[14] Recently modernized carriages from the Soviet era have also been used for the iron diplomacy program.[16] Although most cars have been retrofitted with upscale furnishings to allow visiting leaders to travel comfortably, not all carriages have been refurbished to the same standard.[16] Discrepancies regarding train car accommodations were noted by the French president Emmanuel Macron, the German chancellor Olaf Scholz, and the Italian prime minister Mario Draghi during their joint trip to Kyiv in June 2022.[15]

Notable visits

See also: List of serving heads of state and government that have visited Ukraine during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
Date Travellers Representing To Notes Rf.
2022-03-15 Mateusz Morawiecki, prime minister
Petr Fiala, prime minister
Janez Janša, prime minister
Jarosław Kaczyński, deputy prime minister 		 Poland
 Czechia
 Slovenia
 Poland 		Kyiv
  • First visit by foreign leaders during the invasion
 [12]
[19]
[14]
2022-04-01 Roberta Metsola, parliament president  EU Kyiv
  • First visit by a top EU official during the invasion
  • Trip details withheld for security reasons
  • Kamyshin asserted weeks later that "[a]ll Western leaders ... arrived by train"
  • Metsola addressed the Verkhovna Rada in person
 [9]
[20]
[21]
[22]
2022-04-08 Ursula von der Leyen, commission president
Josep Borrell, foreign affairs representative
Eduard Heger, prime minister 		 EU
 EU
 Slovakia 		Kyiv
[16]
[23]
[24]
[25]
[26]
2022-04-09 Boris Johnson, prime minister  UK Kyiv
[14]
[27]
2022-04-09 Karl Nehammer, chancellor  Austria Kyiv
[28]
2022-04-13 Alar Karis, president
Egils Levits, president
Gitanas Nausėda, president
Andrzej Duda, president 		 Estonia
 Latvia
 Lithuania
 Poland 		Kyiv
[29]
[30]
2022-04-24 Antony Blinken, secretary of state
Lloyd Austin, secretary of defense 		 US Kyiv
  • Visit occurred hours before Krasne railway station was attacked, amongst others
  • Unclear if the secretaries were still in transit at the time of the attacks
 [9]
[31]
2022-04-28 António Guterres, secretary-general  UN Kyiv
  • Visit occurred two days after Guterres held talks with Putin in Moscow
  • Central Kyiv was attacked while Guterres was still in the city
  • Two rockets exploded in the Shevchenkivskyi District, shocking the UN team
 [32]
[33]
[34]
2022-04-30 Nancy Pelosi, speaker  US Kyiv [35]
2022-05-08 Justin Trudeau, prime minister
Chrystia Freeland, deputy prime minister
Mélanie Joly, foreign affairs minister[c] 		 Canada Kyiv
[6]
[36]
2022-05-22 Andrzej Duda, president  Poland Kyiv
  • Duda addressed the Rada, becoming the first foreign head of state to address the parliament in-person since the Russian invasion
 [37]
2022-05-26 Sanna Marin, prime minister  Finland Kyiv
[38]
2022-06-16 Emmanuel Macron, president
Olaf Scholz, chancellor
Mario Draghi, prime minister 		 France
 Germany
 Italy 		Kyiv
[39]
[40]
[15]
2022-06-16 Klaus Iohannis, president  Romania Kyiv
  • Iohannis joined Macron, Scholz, and Draghi in Kyiv but had travelled separately
  • He also announced his support for granting EU candidate status to Ukraine
 [41]
[40]
2022-06-17 Boris Johnson, prime minister  UK Kyiv
  • The UK agrees to help train Ukrainian soldiers to improve their combat readiness
 [42]
2022-06-29 Joko Widodo, president  Indonesia Kyiv
  • First visit by the leader of an Asian country during the invasion
  • Visit occurred shortly after Widodo attended the G7 summit in Bavaria
  • Indonesia is scheduled to host the next G20 summit in Bali
 [43]
2022-07-03 Anthony Albanese, prime minister  Australia Kyiv
[44]
[45]
[18]
[46]
2022-07-25 Alejandro Giammattei, president  Guatemala Kyiv
  • First visit by the leader of a Latin American country during the invasion
 [47]
2022-10-20 Ignazio Cassis, president   Switzerland Kyiv
[48]
2022-10-25 Frank-Walter Steinmeier, president  Germany Kyiv
  • Steinmeier was due to visit on 20 October, but was advised to postpone due to the tense security situation in Kyiv caused by a wave of cruise missile and drone attacks across Ukraine
  • Steinmeier planned to visit in April 2022 along with the presidents of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, but his invitation was rescinded by Ukraine. Steinmeier had a telephone conversation with president Zelenskyy in May, during which Zelenskyy extended an invitation to Steinmeier to visit.
  • Steinmeier also visited the town of Koriukivka, where he met Ukrainian officials in an air-raid shelter due to the launching of Iranian-designed Russian drones from Belarus.
 [30]
2022-11-19 Rishi Sunak, prime minister  UK Kyiv
  • Announced new anti-air military aid
 [49]
2022-11-26 Alexander De Croo, prime minister
Katalin Novák, president
Ingrida Šimonytė, prime minister
Mateusz Morawiecki, prime minister 		 Belgium
 Hungary
 Lithuania
 Poland 		Kyiv
  • The four leaders together with president Zelenskyy launched the "Grain from Ukraine" initiative, which aims to export Ukrainian grain to countries vulnerable to famine and drought
 [50]
2022-11-28 Urmas Reinsalu, foreign minister
Pekka Haavisto, foreign minister
Þórdís Kolbrún R. Gylfadóttir, foreign minister
Edgars Rinkēvičs, foreign minister
Gabrielius Landsbergis, foreign minister
Anniken Huitfeldt, foreign minister
Tobias Billström, foreign minister 		 Estonia
 Finland
 Iceland
 Latvia
 Lithuania
 Norway
 Sweden 		Kyiv [51]
2023-01-30 Mette Frederiksen, prime minister  Denmark Mykolaiv, Odesa
  • Frederiksen was received by Zelenskyy, and the two leaders visited a hospital treating wounded soldiers and the Port of Mykolaiv
 [52]
2023-02-20 Joe Biden, president  United States Kyiv
Main article: 2023 visit by Joe Biden to Ukraine
 [53]
2023-02-21 Giorgia Meloni, prime minister  Italy Kyiv
  • Meloni met with president Zelenskyy, and visited Bucha and Irpin.
 [54]
2023-02-23 Pedro Sánchez, prime minister  Spain Kyiv
  • Sánchez met with president Zelenskyy, and visited Bucha and Irpin.
 [55]
2023-04-28 Petr Pavel, president
Zuzana Čaputová, president 		 Czech Republic
 Slovakia 		Kyiv, Dnipro
  • The two presidents visited Borodianka and met with president Zelenskyy
  • Pavel also visited Bucha and Dnipro
 [56]
[57]
[58]
2023-06-10 Justin Trudeau, prime minister  Canada Kyiv
  • Trudeau and deputy prime minister Chrystia Freeland met president Zelenskyy
  • Trudeau laid a wreath at a memorial for fallen Ukrainian soldiers at St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery, addressed the Ukrainian parliament, and announced C$500 million in new military aid for Ukraine
 [59][60]

See also

Explanatory notes

  1. ^ From left to right: Polish deputy prime minister Jarosław Kaczyński, Czech prime minister Petr Fiala, Slovenian prime minister Janez Janša, Polish prime minister Mateusz Morawiecki, Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal, and Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
  2. ^ Kamyshin also carries his son's stuffed owl with him.[10]
  3. ^ Also part of the Canadian delegation were Jody Thomas, national security advisor; Katie Telford, chief of staff; and Brian Clow, deputy chief of staff.[36]

References

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