At a mentoring session with the winners of the Create Ukraine programme, spokesperson for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Heorhii Tykhyi discussed key aspects of international relations, state communication strategies, and working with global leaders. The conversation focused on important topics, including why personal meetings with heads of state are critical for effective diplomacy and how approaches to international negotiations change across different U.S. administrations.
Like the 10 professionals of the Create Ukraine programme, Heorhii once returned from abroad to contribute to large-scale state-building processes. At the time, he was working in New York and considers his decision to return to his homeland as the best of his life.
Heorhii Tykhyi: “It is incredibly important right now to work for the state. It’s not just helping your country in its most difficult time, but also, without exaggeration, the opportunity to be at the epicentre of historical events, to create history yourself. It is also invaluable experience in solving complex tasks that require unconventional approaches and systematic thinking. In this context, we also strongly encourage young people to come and work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and become part of Ukrainian diplomacy.”
The main topic of conversation was geopolitics. Among the key messages shared by the MFA spokesperson:
✅ International relations are primarily a struggle of interests. Ukraine is making every effort to strengthen its presence on the international stage, particularly in peace agreement negotiations.
✅ Every sharp tweet from Trump is not accidental. It always contains clear signals, and the diplomats’ task is to cut through the emotions and extract the rational kernel.
✅ It is important to feel your counterpart. This is one of the reasons why Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holds many personal meetings with world leaders.
The participants also discussed why hostile information and psychological operations (IPSO) are just as dangerous as Russian weapons. Furthermore, the mentor shared his story of joining the MFA team through correspondence with the minister on Twitter.
“Heorhii’s example shows that there are no obstacles if you know what you want,” said Oksana Havryliv, one of the winners of the Create Ukraine programme.
Create Ukraine is co-funded by the European Union and the Government of Lithuania within the framework of the EU4Youth program, aimed at supporting young people. The project is managed by the Lithuanian organization Central Project Management Agency and implemented by the KSE Foundation at the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
Mentoring sessions with experienced managers help the winners of Create Ukraine gain the knowledge and skills necessary for working in the public sector.
Earlier, the programme participants took part in mentoring sessions with Anna Novosad, former Minister of Education of Ukraine; Svitlana Kotliarevska, an expert in building and scaling teams in the public sector; Mariia Zakharenko, head of the Reform Support Team at the Ministry of Economy; and Sergiy Nikolaychuk, Deputy Governor of the National Bank of Ukraine.