American Ambassador Kurt Volker – U.S. Permanent Representative to NATO in 2008–2009, U.S. State Department Special Representative for Ukraine Negotiations in 2017–2019, and a leading expert on European and Euro-Atlantic security – has joined the Security Council of the Kyiv Security Forum (KSF).

On July 8, during a special KSF discussion held following the NATO summit in Ankara, it was announced that Kurt Volker had joined the Forum’s Security Council. KSF Chairman Arseniy Yatsenyuk welcomed him to the Council, thanking for his long-standing support of Ukraine, active cooperation, and consistent promotion of Ukrainian interests on the international stage. For his part, Ambassador Volker emphasized that it was a great honor for him to join the KSF Security Council.

Kurt Volker has been actively involved in KSF events for many years. During the 18th Kyiv Security Forum, held in April this year, he called for increasing economic pressure on the Kremlin through the imposition of secondary sanctions on Russian oil and for providing Ukraine with long-range weapons. 

“We must do everything we can to deepen and strengthen Ukraine economically, militarily, and institutionally,” Ambassador emphasized at the time.

The KSF Security Council was founded in 2023. It is an informal advisory group comprising prominent international and Ukrainian statesmen, military leaders, diplomats, and security experts.

Council Members:

* Chairman of the KSF – Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Prime Minister of Ukraine in 2014–2016, founder of the Open Ukraine Foundation;

* General David Petraeus, Commander of the US Central Command in 2008-2010, Director of the US CIA in 2011-2012;

* Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee (2021-2025);

* Admiral Sir Antony David Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff of the United Kingdom in 2021-2025;

* Anthony Abbott, Prime Minister of Australia in 2013-2015;

* Taavi Rõivas, Prime Minister of Estonia in 2014-2016;

* Natalie Jaresko, Chair of the Supervisory Board of the Aspen Institute Kyiv, Minister of Finance of Ukraine in 2014-2016;

* Danylo Lubkivsky, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in 2014;

* Ramina Shut, Director of the Arseniy Yatsenyuk “Open Ukraine” Foundation.

Kyiv Security Forum (KSF) is Ukraine’s leading international platform for discussing issues of war, peace, and global security, launched in 2007 at the initiative of the Arseniy Yatsenyuk “Open Ukraine” Foundation.

The KSF’s primary mission is to defend Ukraine’s national interests on the global stage. The platform operates on several levels simultaneously: it keeps Ukraine at the center of the global agenda, expands our country’s circle of international partners, and builds expertise on pressing security issues. Since its founding, the KSF has organized thousands of events – including annual gatherings, special events, and online discussions. These events are followed by millions of people in Ukraine and abroad.