It eventually gave in after intense pressure from the chair of the talks and other countries.
Now, less than a day before more than 115 world leaders take over the reins, the chair of the talks gave up an attempt to ram through a "Danish text", leaked to the Guardian last week, which would have ended Kyoto.
Laura Fitzgerald, chair of ROSA, talked passengers through what to do if the group got arrested.
He still insisted on getting out of the chair to talk to staffers of lawmakers, though.
He praised the co-chairs of the talks, who will be key to getting countries together to form an agreement.
Herman Van Rompuy, who chairs European summits of national leaders, said: "I commend Ashton for her crucial role – as negotiator and co-chair of the talks.
The current co-chair of the talks, Irish foreign minister Charlie Flanagan, said Brokenshire must "adopt a stance of rigorous impartiality" in Belfast.
Sinn Féin continue to state that the Northern Ireland secretary, James Brokenshire, cannot be regarded as a neutral co-chair of the talks, given his party, the Conservatives, and their forthcoming deal with the DUP.
"Sometimes in school I'm in the chair and I get out of the chair to talk and the teacher says, 'Did you get out of the chair?' and I say, 'No.' But what he did was a big lie".
Last year, another American diplomat, Dr Richard Haass, chaired a round of talks on flags, parades and the legacy of the Troubles.
