Press-releases
17.05.2017
50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives Newt Gingrich Gave Public Lecture “Where is the United States going and what does it mean for Ukraine?” at the Invitation of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation
On May 16, Newt Gingrich, 50th Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, at the invitation of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation, gave a public lecture “Where is the United States going and what does it mean for Ukraine?”. More than 400 Ukrainian students, scholars and opinion-makers were among the listeners of the lecture.
In his remarks Newt Gingrich mentioned the US President Donald Trump's position towards Ukraine-Russian situation: “I think a lot of people worried that Trump said positive things about Putin, that he would be a man who would betray or abandon Ukraine. I think that now it is very clear that this is not the case. He would like to find the way to break through with Putin if Putin would agree to be part of normal society. But that would require Putin to give up Crimea, to pull out troops from Eastern Ukraine.”
“Donald Trump very much wants to find a way to insure that we get a peaceful solution in Eastern Ukraine. How he gets there I am not quite sure. But they are assembling a very smart strategic team. These people are working with these problems every day, they are very determined. I think that this is the best national security team,” said Newt Gingrich.
Speaker Gingrich also emphasized that successful Ukraine would help to create a free society in Russia. He explained that a free and prosperous Ukraine would inspire Russian citizens to aim to these standards.
Addressing the young people in the audience, Speaker Gingrich said: “If you want to become a successful leader, you have to listen to people around you. You have to learn from them. If you listen and learn from them you will help them. When you help them they will ask you to lead.”
In addition, Newt Gingrich explained why Donald Trump has won the Presidential elections: “Americans were fed up with traditional politicians. He was elected for changes and he is in the process of changing.” He added that Donald Trump “is different – he doesn’t think like them, he doesn’t behave like them, he doesn’t fit the rules.”
The discussion was moderated by businessman and philanthropist Victor Pinchuk who invited the future leaders of Ukraine to shape proper messages that Mr. Gingrich would bring to the US. Students' questions included the role of human rights in US foreign policy, the relations of the US with Ukraine, global warming, propaganda, and other topics.
Besides giving the lecture, Newt Gingrich met with the Prime Minister of Ukraine Volodymyr Groysman as well as young Ukrainian reformers.
Images from the event are available following the link.
As a part of its Public Lectures project launched in 2006, the Victor Pinchuk Foundation regularly invites leading thinkers, politicians and public figures to Ukraine to discuss challenges facing the world and Ukraine. By organizing such a dialogue between world leaders and Ukrainian students, the Foundation has for a decade contributed to fostering a new generation of responsible leaders.
In previous years, lectures were given, among others, by Francis Fukuyama, Professor of International Political Economy at Johns Hopkins University; Muhammad Yunus, 2006 Nobel Peace Prize Laureate; James Wolfensohn, 9th President of the World Bank Group; Colin Powell, 65th US Secretary of State; Javier Solana, High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union (1999-2009) and Secretary General of NATO (1995-1999); Joschka Fischer, Vice Chancellor of Germany (1998-2005); Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States; Shimon Peres, the 9th President of Israel; Tony Blair, Prime Minister of Great Britain (1997-2007); Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund (1998-2005); Dr. Michio Kaku, Henry Semat Professor of Physics; Jimmy Wales, Founder of Wikipedia and Wikimedia Foundation; Thomas Friedman, The New York Times columnist and three-time Pulitzer Prize winner; Dr. Condoleezza Rice, 66th United States Secretary of State (2005-2009); David Cameron, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (2010-2016), and others.
The students of the largest national wide scholarship program Zavtra.UA and scholars of the international education WorldWideStudies program of Victor Pinchuk Foundation regularly attend public lectures by world leaders in Kyiv, where they learn about global perspectives and receive inspiration for their own endeavours.
The Victor Pinchuk Foundation is an international, private and non-partisan philanthropic foundation based in Ukraine. It was established in 2006 by businessman and public figure Victor Pinchuk. Its goal is to empower the younger generation to change their country and the world. To achieve this, projects have been developed and partnerships have been built in Ukraine and worldwide for a decade. Since 2006, over 125 million USD have been invested in projects to transform Ukraine.
The projects of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation include, among others: the all-Ukrainian network of neonatal Centers Cradles of Hope, the largest private scholarship programme in Ukraine, Zavtra.UA, the WorldWideStudies scholarship programme for Ukrainian students studying abroad, and the contemporary art PinchukArtCentre, the largest art center in Ukraine and the region, giving free-of-charge access to contemporary art to inspire new thinking. The foundation supports the international network YES (Yalta European Strategy), founded in 2004 by Victor Pinchuk, the largest non-government platform in Ukraine and the region to foster Ukraine’s European and global integration.
The foundation supports a crowdfunding platform to foster giving in Ukrainian society, the Philanthropic Marketplace. The Foundation is a member of the European Foundation centre and the Ukrainian Grantmakers Forum. It cooperates with the Clinton Global Initiative, the Atlantic Council, the Tony Blair Faith Foundation, and other nongovernmental organizations.
Official website: pinchukfund.org
For media inquiries please contact the press-office of the Victor Pinchuk Foundation:
E-mail: [email protected]
Phone: +380 44 494 11 48
