Linking Ukraine and the Indo-Pacific: Maintaining Global Unity

Synopsis

The May 2023 G7 declared unified support for Ukraine in its continuing resistance against Russian aggression, while confirming the linkages between European and Indo-Pacific security. Five months on, the world seems ever more fragmented, however. In the United States, former President D. Trump may represent a party that is becoming more skeptical of continued military support for Ukraine. In both Poland and Slovakia, which used to be the staunchest supporters of Ukraine, leaders who doubt the utility of continued war and military support for Ukraine have attracted strong support. How can the European Union and Japan, two major actors with normative as well as geopolitical interests in supporting the rules-based order, overcome the obstacles to maintaining global unity in support of Ukraine’s independence and sovereign integrity?

In this seminar, Mr. Andriy Zagorodnyuk, Chairman, Centre for Defence Strategies (Kyiv) and former Minister of Defence of Ukraine, will share his assessment of the latest phase of the ongoing war, where Ukraine forces are resorting to counter-offensives to recover the occupied Eastern territories of Ukraine. He will also share his views on the future of support towards Ukraine’s war effort.

Mr. Noriyuki Shikata, Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs, Prime Minister’s Office of Japan, will share his views and assessment of Japan’s support and assistance to Ukraine. Especially, he will focus on how, building upon its success in unifying the G7, Japan would be able to continue to press for global unity in support of Ukraine, and further, to make the case for linking European and Indo-Pacific security.

Mr. Lutz Guellner, the Head of Division, Strategic Communications and Information Analysis, European External Action Service (EEAS), will in turn evaluate European support for Ukraine, especially the decision in early October to increase the level of European support.

Dr. Chiyuki Aoi, Professor and Director, SCERU will moderate this session.

About the speakers

Mr. Andriy Zagorodnyuk is Chairman, Centre for Defence Strategies (Kyiv). He is also a distinguished fellow at the Atlantic Council’s Eurasia Center. He served as Minister of Defense of Ukraine from 2019 to 2020. He is now co-founder and chairman of the security think tank Centre for Defence Strategies, focusing on security studies, policy research, and advocacy in Ukraine.
Prior to his appointment as Minister of Defense, Zagorodnyuk served as head of the Ministry of Defense’s Reforms Project Office from 2015 to 2018. During this time, he was a key player and major architect of military reform in Ukraine. In July 2019, prior to serving as Minister, Zagorodnyuk was appointed advisor to the President of Ukraine for defense matters, as well as a member of the supervisory council of Ukraine’s Ukroboronprom defense company.
Zagorodnyuk has over 20 years of experience in the field of heavy industry and industrial engineering. From 2005 to 2019 he served as founder and chairman of the board for Discovery Drilling Equipment.
Zagorodnyuk holds degrees from the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv in law and a post-graduate diploma with distinction in the specialty of financial strategy from the Saïd Business School at the University of Oxford.

Mr. Noriyuki “Nori” SHIKATA was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Public Affairs under Prime Minister Fumio KISHIDA in October 2021.
He was Assistant Minister/Director General, Economic Affairs Bureau of Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) (2020-21).
His other prior positions include: Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary, Deputy Chief of Mission, Embassy of Japan in China (2017-19); Deputy Director General, Asian and Oceanian Affairs Bureau, MOFA (2016-17); Political Minister, Embassy of Japan in the U.K. (2012-14); Director of Global Communications, Prime Minister’s Office (2010-12), Director of respectively, Economic Treaties, Second North America (Japan-U.S. economic issues), International Press, and Status of U.S. Forces Agreement Divisions of MOFA.
He was also a Visiting Professor at Kyoto University’s Graduate School of Law/Public Policy (Japan’s diplomacy), and Associate, Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, Harvard University. He holds a B.A. in Law from Kyoto University and Master of Public Policy (MPP) from Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
He is a winner of the Gold Standard Award for Political Communications 2011. His X (twitter) handle is: @norishikata.

Mr. Lutz Guellner is Head of Division for Strategic Communications and Information Analysis in the European External Action Service. He leads a team of about 40 persons dealing with issues related to disinformation and foreign manipulative interference. In his work, he focuses on addressing disinformation threats for the EU and surrounding regions.
Prior to his current position he served as Head of the EEASs foreign and security policy communication team (2017-2019) and as Head of the European Commission Directorate General for Trade communication team (2013–2017). He was also Deputy Head of the Trade Strategy Unit and responsible for coordinating EU-US trade and economic relations.
In 2009 and 2010, Guellner was spokesperson for the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Catherine Ashton. He was also the Commission spokesperson for trade policy. In previous positions, he oversaw economic relations between the EU and Russia.
Guellner studied political science and international relations at the Free University of Berlin and the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Paris. He is teaching trade policy and EU foreign affairs at the post-graduate studies programme for European studies in Berlin.