‘Is light ahead?’ The 18th Kyiv Security Forum will take place on 23–24 April

On April 23-24, Kyiv will host the 18th annual Kyiv Security Forum (KSF) – an event that has become Ukraine’s leading international platform for discussing issues of war, peace and global security.

The theme of this year’s Forum is: ‘Darkness or Dawn: is light ahead?’

The event takes place at a time of profound transformation in the global security architecture. Russia’s war against Ukraine, the spread of military conflicts, the nuclear factor, hybrid attacks on democracies, and disinformation campaigns are shaping a new reality in international relations.

This year’s Kyiv Security Forum will bring together international leaders, senior officials from the security and defence sectors, NATO representatives, diplomats, innovators and civil society figures to discuss today’s security challenges.

One of the Forum’s key themes will be nuclear security. 26 April marks the 40th anniversary of the Chornobyl nuclear disaster. Russia’s attacks on Ukraine’s nuclear infrastructure and the occupation of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant have once again brought the nuclear threat to the forefront of the global agenda.

Other key topics of the Forum include international solidarity with Ukraine, transatlantic unity, global security, defence and modern warfare technologies, countering disinformation, and the resilience of cities and energy infrastructure.

Speakers at previous annual KSF events have included, among others, the 43rd President of the United States George W. Bush, former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, and Yale and Stanford University professors Timothy Snyder and Francis Fukuyama, as well as Ben Hodges, Commander of US Forces in Europe from 2014 to 2017; Admiral Rob Bauer, Chairman