FM Sybiha: Dialogue with Iran was appropriate and useful for Ukraine’s strategic security

The head of Ukrainian diplomacy said this in an interview with Ukrinform.

According to the Minister, the meeting was a continuation of his July phone call with Araghchi, during which the sides agreed to maintain direct dialogue to prevent further escalation between Ukraine and Iran.

“Thanks to diplomacy, we managed to ease tensions and remove immediate threats at that time,” Sybiha said.

During the latest meeting, he said, the sides discussed the situation in Ukraine and Iran, regional issues, as well as peace efforts.

“Diplomacy is not just about meetings with friendly countries and photographs where everyone is smiling and embracing. Sometimes it is also about having a frank conversation with an ally of your enemy. We do not have to agree on everything in order to talk,” the Foreign Minister said.

He stressed that Ukraine supports direct dialogue even with states that maintain close relations with Russia.

“I believe the meeting was appropriate and useful, primarily in terms of Ukraine’s strategic security interests,” Sybiha emphasized.

As reported, on July 25, Iran accused Ukraine of attacking an Iranian commercial vessel in the Caspian Sea, claiming that one sailor was killed and another wounded.

President Volodymyr Zelensky previously said that the Ukrainian Defense Forces had struck a warship and vessels involved in transporting military cargo from Iran in the Caspian Sea.

Later, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha called Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi “for a frank conversation.”

Following his conversation with Sybiha, Araghchi said that Kyiv should compensate Tehran for the damage caused by the attack.

In early August, Mohsen Rezaei, a senior military adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader, said that Tehran had been prepared to strike three targets in Ukraine, but abandoned the plans after allegedly receiving an “apology” from Kyiv.