On stage

★

Speaker to be confirmed

Keynote address

The keynote argued that Ukraine must emerge from the war not as a "shield" but as the "sword" of Europe, rebuilt on new foundations rather than restoring Soviet-era industry. The speaker urged Western investors to plan now for reconstruction across MilTech, high-tech, agriculture, energy and heavy industry, framing a strong army, education and health as the three pillars of the future state. He insisted the Kremlin only stops when militarily incapable, and pressed for stronger sanctions and united Western financial pressure.

The substance

Key takeaways

1

The keynote speaker reframed Ukraine's role in stark terms — "Ukraine will never become a shield of Europe. You are the shield. We shall become the sword" — arguing that democracies must be "weaponized" because autocracies will always test them, and that neutrality has repeatedly failed Ukraine throughout its history.

2

He urged investors to plan reconstruction now rather than wait, contending that Ukrainian assets are massively undervalued during wartime and that "day X" — the day after the war ends — will see those assets grow two or three times in value, rewarding whoever moved first.

3

Drawing an explicit parallel to Britain's post-1945 rebuild under the Labour government, he argued Ukraine should not resurrect its Soviet-era industrial base but build anew around MilTech, high-tech/digital services (citing Diia), value-added agriculture, energy and revived heavy industry — positioning Ukraine as "the new China" manufacturing for the European Union.

4

He insisted Ukrainian defence firms are no longer startups but full industries, pointing to a major Ukrainian defence company opening a £200 million manufacturing facility in England as proof of scale and of the two-way economic benefit reconstruction can bring to the UK.

5

On ending the war, he was bleakly realistic: negotiations with Putin are "in vain," the Kremlin only stops when its army is crushed and there are "big problems inside Russia," and only a Ukraine strong enough to frighten Moscow can secure lasting safety — framing the current fight as the still-unfinished collapse of the Soviet Union that began in 1991.

In their words

Key quotes

“

Ukraine will never become a shield of Europe. You are the shield. We shall become the sword of Europe, because democracy should be weaponized and should be tough in its decisions.

Keynote speaker

“

If you want to win the war, you have to be well-prepared for the war.

Keynote speaker

“

Ukraine, in this sense, shall become the new China for the European Union, to produce anything that Europeans want.

Keynote speaker

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