As a result when the Germans and Austro-Hungarians met with the Bolshevik envoys at Brest Litovsk in December, 1917, it became clear that the only hope of the Council was also to make peace with the Central Powers and use the next months as a breathing space during which they could strengthen their internal order and prepare themselves for the next round with the Bolsheviks. They were aware that this might be an expensive move, but between that and the annihilation of Ukraine there was no real choice. Accordingly, the Council decided to send three delegates to represent Ukraine at the Brest Litovsk meetings. The delegates selected were three young men, Levitsky, Lubinsky and Sevryuk, former students of Prof. Hrushevsky. They had had little training in international meetings. Their youth surprised the German representatives, General Hoffmann and his associates, and amused Count Czernin, the Austro-Hungarian representative. He could not imagine young men appearing in important posts and Ukrainians anywhere at all, for he represented those elements in his country which were most hostile to the progress of the Ukrainians in Galicia. To the especial annoyance of Czernin they put forth claims not only to independence but to the whole of Eastern Galicia, and also the province of Kholm. These claims appeared preposterous to the delegates of the Central Powers but they also touched on the weak spot of both Germany and Austria-Hungary. The representatives of the two powers were not friendly. Both Germany and Austria-Hungary had their own ideas as to the future of eastern Europe and each wished to secure the lion’s share for his own country, although the Austrians were well aware of the fact that nothing was well at home, especially since the death of Francis Joseph, who had at least been able to put up a brilliant facade to cover his policy of avoiding a settlement of all questions. Besides that, the delegates had taken the trouble to pass through Lviv on their way to Brest Litovsk and were well aware of the situation in Eastern Galicia, probably better than Count Czernin himself. On the other hand, Trotsky, as the leader of the Bolshevik delegation, argued bitterly that the Germans and Austrians should not receive the Ukrainian delegation at all. They denied that Ukraine existed and that the Council represented the will of the workers and peasants. Later he brought to the meeting representatives of the Ukrainian Soviet Republic from Kharkiv in an endeavor to strengthen his own case and kept reporting victories of the Bolsheviks over the troops of the Council.