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12th Yalta European Strategy conference opens in Kyiv

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The first day of the 12th annual Yalta European Strategy opened at Kyiv's Mystetskyi Arsenal on Sept. 10, the second time the conference hasn't been held at its traditional venue - the Livadia Palace in Yalta - because of Russia's invasion and illegal annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea in March 2014.

Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko was the first main speaker at first full day of the conference on Sept. 11, which this year is entitled “At Risk: How the New Ukraine’s Fate Affects Europe and the World.” The conference was organized by the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

The conference, as in previous years, brings together top European and world diplomats, who this year include Jean Asselborn, Minister of Foreign and European Affairs of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg; former President of the European Comission José Manuel Barroso, Carl Bildt, th eex-foreign minister of Sweden; Johannes Hahn, the Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations, European Commission; former Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma; Gen. Stanley McChrystal, a former commander of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF); U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, and others.

The event will be held until Sept. 12.