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Together Alone? Ukraine Policy in a New Phase of Atlanticism

2nd Transatlantic Ukraine Seminar

10.12.2025 - 12.12.2025

Thema

It is currently difficult to predict how Russian aggression towards Ukraine and diplomatic efforts to achieve a ceasefire will evolve over the next few months. However, amid growing transatlantic estrangement, it is clear that Europe will need to increase its support for Kyiv and reinforce its security. What steps need to be taken now?

This conference aims to bring together leading experts and analysts on Ukraine for a frank and professional discussion to summarize the interim results of the conflict and predict possible scenarios for the development and end of Russian aggression against Ukraine.

We – the German-Ukrainian Bureau, the Ukrainian Institute and the Protestant Academy Loccum – would be delighted to welcome you to the conference here in Loccum in early December!

Mittwoch, 10.12.2025
13:30 Uhr
Arrival and Check-in

14:15 Uhr
Words of Welcome

Mattia NELLES, Co-Founder & Executive Director, German-Ukrainian Bureau, Düsseldorf
Kateryna RIETZ-RAKUL, Head, Ukrainian Institute in Germany, Berlin
Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, Protestant Academy Loccum

14:25 Uhr
BLITZ SESSION (Part 1) | Calls across the Atlantic – How is the Situation on Ukrainian Affairs in the United States and in Canada?

Eric CIARAMELLA, Senior Fellow, Russia and Eurasia Program, Carnegie En-dowment for International Peace, Washington D.C.
Marta DYCZOK, Associate Professor, Departments of Political Science and History University of Western Ontario/Canada
Meaghan MOBBS, President of R. T. Weatherman Foundation and Director for American Safety and Security at Independent Women, Washington D.C.

MODERATION: Melinda HARING, Senior Advisor at Razom for Ukraine and Nonresident Senior Fellow at the Eurasia Center of the Atlantic Council, Washington D.C.

15:25 Uhr
Coffee & Tea Break

15:35 Uhr
BLITZ SESSION (Part 2) | Europe Calling – How is the Situation on Ukrainian Affairs in the UK and in the EU?BLITZ SESSION (Part 2) | Europe Calling – How is the Situation on Ukrainian Affairs in the UK and in the EU?

Balázs JARABIK, Founder of Minority Report, a political risk consultancy cover-ing Central and Eastern Europe, and a partner at R.Politik, Bratislava
Amanda PAUL, Senior Policy Analyst and Deputy Head of the Europe in the World Programme at the EPC (European Policy Center), Brussels
Anastasiya SHAPOCHKINA, President and Founder at Eastern Circles and Faculty Membre at Sciences Po Paris, Paris

MODERATION: Kateryna STETSEVYCH, Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Berlin

16:35 Uhr
Coffee & Tea Break

16:45 Uhr
PANEL DISCUSSION | Current Situation on the Battlefield and Military Foresight

Kick-off Impulse by:

Michael KOFMAN, Senior Fellow in the Russia and Eurasia Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Washington D.C.

Followed by discussion with:
Gustav GRESSEL, Hauptlehroffizier und Forscher Landesverteidigungsakade-mie des Österreichischen Bundesheers, Wien
Taras TYMOCHKO, Lead Dronefall Project, Come Back Alive, Ukraine
Oleksandr YABCHANKA, Captain and Commander of the Robotic Systems Service of the 'Da Vinci Wolves' Battalion, 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukraine

MODERATION: Elena DAVLIKANOVA, Sahaidachnyi Security Center and Democ-racy Fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), Kyiv

18:30 Uhr
Dinner

19:30 Uhr
PANEL DISCUSSION | Victory or Compromise? How to End the War and Ensure Sustainable Peace in Europe?

Nataliya GUMENYUK, Journalist and CEO of the Public Interest Journalism Lab, Kyiv
Phillips O'BRIEN, Historian and Professor of Strategic Studies University of St Andrews, Scotland
Yaroslav TROVIMOV, Chief foreign-affairs correspondent of The Wall Street Journal and Author of “Our Enemies Will Vanish” (2024) and “No Country for Love” (2024), Kyiv/New York
Fredrik WESSLAU, Distinguished policy fellow at the Stockholm Centre for East-ern European Studies (SCEEUS), Stockholm

MODERATION: Konrad SCHULLER, Journalist, Frankfurther Allgmeine Zeitung (FAZ), Frankfurt a.M.

21:00 Uhr
Informal Get Together

-

* invited

Donnerstag, 11.12.2025
07:15 Uhr
Invitation to Morning Run

08:30 Uhr
Breakfast

09:30 Uhr
PANEL DISCUSSION | From Reforms and EU Integration to Readiness for Negotiations – What do Ukrainians want?

Yevhen HLIBOVYTSKY, Director of Frontier Institute and Supervisory board member at Suspilne (Ukrainian public service broadcast), Kyiv
Sevgil MUSAJEVA, Chief Editor of Ukrayinska Pravda, Kyiv

MODERATION: Gesine DORNBLUETH, Journalist, Texte und Töne, Berlin

10:45 Uhr
Coffee & Tea Break

11:00 Uhr
PANEL DISCUSSION | Germany’s Future Ukraine Policy – Living up to Expectations and Responsibilities

Daniel BRÖSSLER, Foreign Affairs Correspondent in the Berlin Parliamentary Office, Süddeutsche Zeitung, Berlin/München
Jaroslava BARBIERI, Research Fellow, Ukraine Forum, Russia and Eurasia Pro-gramme, Chatham House, London
Ljudmyla MELNYK, President, German-Ukrainian Society (D.U.G.) and Head of the Ukraine Program of IEP, Berlin
Andreas UMLAND, Analyst at the Stockholm Centre for Eastern European Studies (SCEEUS) in the Swedish Institute of International Affairs (UI), and As-sociate Professor of Politics at the Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA), Stockholm

MODERATION: Mattia NELLES, German-Ukrainian Bureau

12:30 Uhr
Lunch

13:20 Uhr
Sight Seeing Tour Monastery (Meeting Point at the Reception)

15:00 Uhr
Coffee & Cake Break (at the Dining Hall)

15:30 Uhr
BREAKOUT SESSION | Pillars for future Ukrainian Policy

-
FORUM 1 | Propaganda and Counter-narrative: Shaping Political Landscape and History

Andriy LYUBKA, Autor, Writer, Director of the Institute for Central European Strategy (ICES) and Vice President of PEN Ukraine, Kyiv
MarKo MARTIN, Writer and author, Berlin
Sevgil MUSAJEVA, Chief Editor of Ukrayinska Pravda, Kyiv

MODERATION: Kateryna RIETZ-RAKUL, Head of Ukrainian Institute in Germany, Berlin

-
FORUM 2 | State of Ukraine’s Democracy at War

Oleksandr IAKYMENKO, Program Coordinator at Democracy Reporting International for Ukraine and Moldova, Berlin
Miriam KOSMEHL, Senior Expert Eastern Europe and EU Neighbourhood, Bertelsmann Foundation, Gütersloh
Nataliya PRYHORNYTSKA, Co-Founder and Board Member of Open Platform/ Alliance of Ukrainian Or-ganizations, Berlin

MODERATION: Eduard KLEIN , Research Centre for East European Studies at the University of Bremen, Bremen

-
FORUM 3 | Money Trumps – Sanctions, War Economy, and Unfreezing Russian Assets

Yaroslav TROVIMOV, Chief foreign-affairs correspondent of The Wall Street Journal, Kyiv/New York
Yuliya ZISKINA, Senior Legal Fellow at Razom, Washington D.C.

MODERATION: Simon SCHLEGEL, Head Ukraine Program, LibMod (Zentrum Li-berale Moderne), Berlin

-
FORUM 4 |Ukraine’s Defense Industrial Base and Innovation – Could it be a Secu-rity Guarantee?

Oleksandr YABCHANKA, Captain and Commander of the Robotic Systems Service of the 'Da Vinci Wolves' Battalion, 59th Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade, Ukrainian Armed Forces, Ukraine
Taras TYMOCHKO, Lead Dronefall Project, Come Back Alive, Ukraine

MODERATION: Viktoriya FESHAK, Interdisciplinary Analyst and Strategist, Vitsche Germany, Berlin

17:30 Uhr
Coffee & Tea Break (Bistro)

17:45 Uhr
PLENARY | Report from the Forums

• What were the key takeaways?
• What questions remained unresolved and need to be addressed in the future?
• Looking at the sphere of politics: Who should do what with whom by when?

18:30 Uhr
Dinner

19:30 Uhr
LITERARY SALON | Writing Against Oblivion: Writing on War, Home and Responsibility

Myroslav LAIUK, Ukrainian Poet, Novelist, Dramatist, TV and Radio Host, Kyiv
Andriy LYUBKA, Autor, Writer, Director of the Institute for Central European Strategy (ICES) and Vice President of PEN Ukraine, Kyiv
Marko MARTIN, Writer and author, Berlin

MODERATION: Kateryna RIETZ-RAKUL, Head of Ukrainian Institute in Germany, Berlin

21:00 Uhr
Informal Get Together

-

* invited
** prel. confirmed

Freitag, 12.12.2025
08:30 Uhr
Breakfast

09:30 Uhr
REFLECTION ROUND | From Working Groups to overall Conference

Rebecca HARMS, Vice Chair, European Centre for Press and Media Freedom and former Member of the European Parliament (2004-2019), Uelzen

10:45 Uhr
Coffee & Tea Break

11:00 Uhr
CONCLUDING PANEL | Where Is the Hope? Outlook of 2026 and a Discussion About Desired and Realistic Futures

James SHERR, Honorary Fellow of Institute at the International Centre for Defence and Securi-ty (ICDS) and Associate Fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme of Chat-ham House, Tallinn
Nicolas TENZER, Chairman of the Center for Studies and Research on Political Decision (CERAP) and Senior Non-Resident Fellow at Non-resident Senior Fel-low at the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), Paris
Victoria VOYTSITSKA, Advocacy Director, International Center for Ukrainian Victory, former Member of Parliament, Secretary at the Committee on Fuel Energy, Nuclear Policies and Security (2014-2019), Kyiv*
Brian WHITMORE, Senior Fellow, Atlantic Council and Assistant Professor of Practice, University of Texas-Arlington


MODERATION: Olga TOKARIUK, Institute for Strategic Dialogue (ISD), London

12:20 Uhr
Wrap-Up & Words of Farwell

Inna NELLES, Co-Founder, German-Ukrainian Bureau, Düsseldorf
Thomas MÜLLER-FÄRBER, Protestant Academy Loccum

12:30 Uhr
Farewell Lunch

13:30 Uhr
Bus Shuttle to Wunstorf train station

Arrival at approx. 14:00

-

* invited
** prel. confirmed

Mehr zum Thema

Next year, Russia’s war against Ukraine will reach its tragic twelfth anniversary. Four years into the full-scale invasion, diplomatic efforts to achieve a negotiated solution have once again reached an impasse. A durable settlement—underpinned by credible security guarantees, or even a lasting ceasefire—appears unlikely in the short term. Amid growing transatlantic divergence, it is increasingly evident that Europe must step up its support for Kyiv and strengthen its own security posture. What is Europe’s strategy toward Ukraine, and what role should the United States play within it? How can Western partners organize and sustain their assistance to Ukraine, given that Russia shows no sign of abandoning its maximalist war aims?

 

The Transatlantic Ukraine Seminar brings together leading experts and analysts to engage in a frank, policy-oriented discussion of these pressing questions. Participants represent a broad spectrum of professional backgrounds—spanning academia, think tanks, journalism, government, and politics—on both sides of the Atlantic. This diversity of perspectives ensures a rich and comprehensive debate on the future of Western strategy and support for Ukraine.

 

The Loccum Ukraine Strategy Seminar is an annual, closed-door gathering of up to 70 participants for two days of intensive exchange on Western policy toward Ukraine. The 2025 seminar marks the second edition, following the successful inaugural conference in 2024, which hosted 65 participants and numerous distinguished speakers.

 

The conference seeks to foster a deep, interdisciplinary dialogue that spans politics, policy, strategy, and the arts—all with Ukraine at the center. Drawing inspiration from the Aspen seminar model, the program features interactive panel discussions, keynote lectures, literary readings, and small-group conversations. The secluded setting of the Protestant Academy Loccum provides an ideal environment for open, focused, and reflective engagement.

 

This event follows the Chatham House Rule. It is jointly organized by the German-Ukrainian Bureau and the Protestant Academy Loccum, in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute. The working language of the seminar is English.

Organisatorisches

Tagungsnummer

2569

Tagungsgebühren

Regular
240€
Reduced
185€

Die Tagungsgebühr beinhaltet Übernachtung, Verpflegung und Kostenbeitrag.
Für Auszubildende, Studierende, Freiwilligendienstleistende sowie Arbeitslose gilt die ermäßigte Gebühr nur bei Vorlage einer gültigen Bescheinigung VOR der Tagung.
Eine Reduzierung der Tagungsgebühr für eine zeitweise Teilnahme ist nicht möglich.

The conference fee includes accommodation, board and a contribution towards costs.
For trainees, students, volunteers and the unemployed, the reduced fee only applies on presentation of a valid certificate BEFORE the conference.
A reduction of the conference fee for temporary participation is not possible.

Stornierung

Bei einer Absage nach dem 30.11.2025 müssen wir Ihnen 50% der Tagungsgebühr in Rechnung stellen.
Bei einer Absage nach dem 05.12.2025 müssen wir Ihnen 100% der Tagungsgebühr in Rechnung stellen.
Bei nicht erfolgter Absage müssen wir die gesamte Tagungsgebühr in Rechnung stellen.

Zahlung

Bitte bezahlen Sie die Gebühren erst nach Erhalt einer Rechnung von uns.

Anreise

Informationen über die Anreise mit dem PKW oder der Bahn finden Sie hier

Es besteht eine direkte Verbindung zur Akademie mit dem Zubringerbus ab dem Bahnhof in Wunstorf.
Zur Akademie - Abholung am Bahnhof Wunstorf, Ausgang ZOB: 10.12.2025, 12:30 Uhr
Zum Bahnhof - Ankunft am Bahnhof Wunstorf (voraussichtlich): 12.12.2025, 14:00 Uhr

Bitte setzen Sie im Anmeldeformular bei gewünschter Mitfahrt im Zubringerbus die entsprechende Auswahl, da die Plätze begrenzt sind.