You're reading: Poroshenko to address annual meeting of YES on September 15

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko will open a plenary session of the 14th annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) in Kyiv on Sept. 15.

The president’s speech will be devoted to Ukraine’s role in the changing world, the press service of YES said on Sept. 13.

The discussion of the participants of the conference with Poroshenko will be moderated by President of the Council on Foreign Relations Richard Haass.

Speakers of the first plenary day: Vice President of the European Commission for Energy Union Maros Sevcovic; Nobel Prize laureate in economics Paul Krugman; U.S. Secretary of State (2013-2017) John Kerry; Prime Minister of Great Britain (2010-2016) David Cameron; U.S. Secretary of State (2005-2009) Condoleezza Rice; President of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Suma Chakrabarti; U.S. Secretary of Defense (2006-2011) Robert Gates; former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Newt Gingrich; philosopher and writer Bernard-Henri Levy; Vitol CEO Ian Taylor; Member of the Supervisory Board of the Institute for War Studies, General Jack Kane; and former director of the U.S. National Security Agency Keith Alexander.

In addition, the well-known artist Marina Abramovic will present her view on the dynamics of the modern world at a special plenary session.

As reported, the 14th annual meeting of the Yalta European Strategy (YES) on the topic “Is this a new world? And what does it mean for Ukraine?” will be held in Kyiv on September 14-16. The YES press service said the plenary sessions of the forum and the work of special sections will be held in Mystetsky Arsenal, while the event will be opened at Bessarabsky Market.

More than 350 leading politicians, diplomats, businessmen, civic activists and experts from 34 countries of the world will take part in the conference, organized by the YES international forum in partnership with the Victor Pinchuk Foundation.

The main topics of the forum will focus on global issues: a shift in the geopolitical distribution of forces and changes in the global economy. Particular attention will be paid to the policy of the new U.S. administration, global security, cyber security, populism and energy security.

One of the most important themes of YES will be Ukraine and its prospects in the world. Discussions will be devoted to the changes taking place in the country and the challenges it faces.