Dmytro Kuleba Keynote Speaker

Dr. Dmytro Kuleba served as Ukraine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2020-2024 – he was one of the most visible and efficient members of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s cabinet since the war started. Dmytro is internationally recognized as one of the most influential diplomats of his generation and a global champion for democracy, freedom, and resilience.

In December 2024, he became a Senior Fellow at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.  He is also an Associate Professor at the Institute of Political Studies at Sciences Po in Paris.  He is also a distinguished policy fellow with the European Power programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations.

The youngest foreign affairs minister in Ukraine’s history, he led Ukraine’s foreign service through its most challenging times during Russian aggression. He played a key role in building alliances, securing arms, imposing sanctions, advancing Ukraine’s EU and NATO bids, and expanding ties with Africa, Asia, and Latin America. He has met with most major world leaders to further the need for Ukraine’s defense and the need for international support, both political and pragmatic.

He is widely known as a capable politician and a safe pair of hands. As the nation’s top diplomat, Dr. Kuleba is a skilled and articulate communicator. In 2016-2018, he introduced the concepts of digital diplomacy, strategic communications, cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy into the Ministry’s work. Under his leadership, Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry excelled in wartime communications and became the first in the world to introduce AI-driven spokesperson. In September 2024, he stepped away from this role ahead of a cabinet reshuffle.

He is the author of  “The War for Reality. How to Win in the World of Fakes, Truths and Communities” – in this book, he focuses on how information warfare is relevant in today’s life of a person and global society.  He identifies five basic rules that help to win it. This work acts as a guide for personal data protection, critical thinking, and resisting manipulation in the age of internet and mass digitization.

In 2024, some of the world’s leading public figures, foreign policy experts, writers, historians, and other notable contributors agreed to contribute their essays to Dmytro’s book “War and New Horizons”. It is a forward-looking collection that examines Ukraine’s role in shaping the future of the world. Among the most famous authors of essays are Anne Applebaum, Ban Ki-moon, Sergiy Plokhii, Condoleezza Rice, Nassim Taleb, Timothy Snyder, Samantha Power and Boris Johnson.

In 2003, Dmytro Kuleba graduated with honour from Institute of International Relations, Taras Shevchenko University (Kyiv,Ukraine), where he studied international law. In 2006 he obtained Ph.D. in Law.

From 2003 to 2010, he worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and at the Permanent Mission of Ukraine to the OSCE. He worked at the office of Ukraine’s Foreign Minister from 2010 to 2013 in charge of the issues related to the reputation of Ukraine abroad, international organizations, relations with the United States. Between January-June 2013, Dmytro served as advisor to Deputy Prime Minister for Humanitarian Affairs.

After leaving the civil service in 2013, he chaired the Board of the UART Foundation for Cultural Diplomacy. In 2014, he returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as Ambassador-at-Large to launch strategic communications. He introduced the concepts of digital diplomacy, strategic communications, cultural diplomacy and public diplomacy into the Ministry’s work.

In 2016,  Dr. Kuleba was appointed as Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Ukraine to the Council of Europe. From August 2019 to March 2020 – Deputy Prime Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration of Ukraine. He became the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in March 2020.