As Secretary of State, the 72-year-old American is one of the most influential diplomats in the world. She was flown in by the US to force a breakthrough in the tenuous negotiations over Ukraine.
Soldiers at the border
In addition, the Americans and Ukrainians are diametrically opposed to the Russians, who have gathered tens of thousands of soldiers with tanks on the eastern Ukrainian border. Russia says it does not want to invade the country, but demands firm guarantees that Ukraine and Georgia – two former Soviet states – will not cooperate with the military alliance NATO, let alone become members of it.
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This morning Sherman sat down in Brussels where the thirty NATO member states, including the Netherlands, were allowed to participate in the discussion for the first time. She also spoke with Russian officials in Geneva, Switzerland on Monday. The aim: to remove the worst tensions, in other words withdrawal of the Russian military at the border.
‘Prickly Negotiator’
Born in Baltimore in 1949, Sherman began her long career as a political adviser and diplomat for the Clinton and Obama administrations, after studying sociology and social work at Boston and Maryland University. For example, she was chief negotiator for the nuclear deal with Iran and she spoke about reducing North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles.
In a profile She is described by insiders as someone with a ‘prickly’ way of negotiating and a history full of tough subjects. “She’s fast,” said former US ambassador to Turkey James Jeffrey, who has watched her work as a diplomat. “And she’s very intense.”
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A British diplomat describes her as someone who, despite all the long and grueling negotiations, always looks razor-sharp and well-groomed with ‘never a hair out of the fold’. She was nicknamed Silver Fox by the Iranians because of her cunning approach to their conversations. Her colleagues at the State Department embraced the nickname and wore T-shirts that read “Silver Fox” during the negotiations.
Big challenge
Now Sherman faces the next major challenge of her career on European soil. She must break open the stalled negotiations and thus prevent an impending war conflict.
That she is ready to take on a long battle was apparent from the first reaction she gave on Monday evening after just eight hours of talking with Russian negotiator Sergei Ryabkov. “Today was a discussion to understand each other better”, according to Sherman. “You couldn’t call it a negotiation yet.”
Negotiations will continue tomorrow in Vienna.
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