"Klimkin Asks": a new LIGA.net project on the future of Ukraine

LIGA.net presents a new intellectual video project – "Klimkin Asks", where Pavlo Klimkin, a diplomat with 25 years of experience and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine in 2014-2019, will ask questions to those who can look beyond the horizon of the present. This is not an interview in the classical sense, but an attempt to see what Ukraine might look like in 10, 20 or even 50 years.

"The war broke many lives and plans, and it is extremely difficult to make clear forecasts for decades to come. However, it is important for me, as well as for every Ukrainian, to understand where we are heading – in geopolitical, economic, technological, cultural and other directions. What we can do today to improve our own future, the future of our country and our children. That is why we are creating a space for in-depth conversations that go beyond everyday events and show a strategic vision.", – says Yulia Bankova, editor-in-chief of LIGA.net .

The format is unique in that Pavlo Klimkin departs from his usual role as an expert and initiates a conversation that should help to see Ukraine in a broader perspective. His experience as a diplomat allows him to ask questions that are not limited to reacting to events, but force interlocutors to think in terms of the future.

"First of all, this will not be an interview story. It will be a story of conversations. Conversations about what is important to us, who we are, what we are worth, and where we are going. And secondly, I will only talk to people I respect. And with such people, 15 minutes is not the right amount of time. So catch it. This is a story about meanings, about what is important to me and, I hope, important to you.", – says Pavlo Klimkin.

The first episode of "Klimkin Asks" with historian Serhiy Plokhiy is already available for subscribers LIGA PRO. In this conversation, they seek answers to the most pressing questions of our history:

• Was the independence of Ukraine in 1991 accidental?
• Could the Hetmanate have avoided the Pereyaslav Agreement?
• What is the phenomenon of the Ukrainian Cossacks?
• How to explain to the world the historical and cultural uniqueness of Ukraine?
• How did Ukraine manage to form an Orthodox center recognized even by Russia? which is recognized even by Russia?
• What was the uniqueness and the greatest weakness of the Russian Empire?
• How the Golden Horde and slavery defined the Russian essence?