Ambassador William Taylor: What’s Next for the Ukraine War?

Registration at 6 PM
Program will BEGIN at 6:30 PM
Followed by a Council Cabinet Reception at 7:45

Having served as U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine for Bush and as Chargé d’Affaires to Ukraine for Trump, Ambassador William Taylor has deep knowledge of and experience with Zelensky – and significant first-hand familiarity as to how Trump approaches Ukraine.

Before his years leading the U.S. Embassy in Kiev, he spent 5 years working for the U.S. at NATO and 10 years coordinating U.S. support to former nations of the USSR. Ambassador Taylor knows well the stark realties of the Ukraine War and the various nations and players, who may shape its future.

In the almost 3 years since Putin’s brutal, full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, at least 12,000 Ukrainian civilians have been killed – along with estimates of 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers killed, 150,000 Russian soldiers killed, and hundreds of thousands injured on both sides. The Ukraine War is by far the largest and most deadly war in Europe since WWII – the Russians alone suffered an average of about 1,000 casualties each day this fall.

With many expecting the country to fall in weeks, if not days, Ukrainians surprised many, most especially Putin, by tenaciously and courageously fighting back against the Russians and reclaiming large areas initially seized by Russia – and even taking and holding some territory within Russia itself.

While some would argue that Biden and NATO partners were too slow and incremental in approving and providing essential weapons systems to Ukraine, most would also agree that without the significant military and financial support provided by the U.S. and the West, that Ukraine would have fallen to Russia long ago.

With Trump returning to the White House and political changes in key European nations, how dramatically might support for Ukraine change? Is some form of a lasting ceasefire possible? Will some framework for negotiations be suggested to or even pressed upon the Ukrainians?

What terms are most crucial for Putin to save face, to justify the massive loss of life to the Russian people, and, perhaps most importantly, to stay in power?

What terms are most critical for Zelensky? Most fundamentally for any agreement to possibly be reached, are NATO members and the U.S. willing to grant any guarantee of a definitive.