Ashish Kumar Sen

The outcome of the war in Ukraine will likely shape China’s behavior toward its neighbors, two US senators — one a Democrat the other a Republican — told the CEPA Forum on September 28. “I don’t know what [Chinese President] Xi Jinping is going to do, but neither does anyone else. Perhaps he doesn’t even know what he’s going to do. But I can guarantee you one thing: the leadership of the Communist Party of China is watching what happens in Ukraine,” said US Senator Roger Wicker (Republican-Mississippi.)

Ukraine urgently needs long-range weapons it needs to win the war against Russia, Gabrielius Landsbergis, Lithuania’s minister of foreign affairs, told the CEPA Forum on September 28. He said, however, that he has observed a “slowing down of urgency” in Western support for Ukraine.

Chef José Andrés views food as a national security issue. He also believes there is a need for a radical shift in the approach to addressing hunger and the role of international organizations in combating this crisis.

Russia’s war in Ukraine is getting uncomfortably close to Romania and has had a detrimental effect on security in the Black Sea region, Romanian Foreign Minister Luminița Odobescu told the CEPA Forum on September 27. 

US Senator Mitch McConnell (Republican-KY), in his remarks to the CEPA Forum on September 27, reiterated the importance of continuing support for Ukraine, emphasizing its alignment with US interests and the minimal cost involved.

 Ukraine will be front and center at NATO’s Washington summit in July, Julianne Smith, the permanent representative of the United States to NATO, told the CEPA Forum on September 27.

Russia’s war of aggression has had a significant impact on Ukraine’s agricultural sector, the ripples of which are being felt as far away as the Middle East and North Africa, Rodrigo Santos, head of the Crop Science Division at Bayer AG, told the CEPA Forum on September 27.

  Moldovan President H. E. Maia Sandu says Russia is meddling in her country’s democratic processes in an attempt to scuttle Moldova’s plans to join the European Union (EU.) Addressing the CEPA Forum on September 26, Sandu urged the international community to support Moldova’s EU integration effort, its ongoing reforms, and its attempts to counter hybrid attacks coming from Russia. 

The United States needs to provide Ukraine with more military aid so that it can win the war against Russia, but it must also have a plan to win the peace once the war is over, Stephen J. Hadley, a former national security advisor to US President George W. Bush, told the 2023 CEPA Forum , “Winning the War, Winning the Peace,” on September 26.