So, it was with great pleasure that I was able to arrange this podcast with Dan Bilak to discuss: - the state of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, - the prospect for a successful conclusion to the war, - Ukraine’s efforts to bring about a cessation of the violence, - he difficult interactions with US President Donald Trump, and - most importantly Dan’s own involvement in Ukraine and ultimately his involvement in this most dramatic European war. Dan is currently a partner at Kinstellar, a law firm that acts as counsel to leading investors across Central and Eastern Europe (CEE), Southeast Europe (SEE) and Central Asia. Before that Dan served as Chief Investment Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ukraine (2016 – 2019) and headed UkraineInvest, the Ukrainian government’s foreign investment promotion agency, where he supported companies in navigating the Ukrainian investment environment. As Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Ukrainian State Railways (UkrZaliznytsia), and twice as Chief of Staff to the Minister of Justice of Ukraine, Daniel oversaw governance reforms and developed anti-corruption strategies in the public sector. Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Dan has served in the Territorial Defence Forces of Ukraine, a branch of Ukraine’s military. He has been awarded recognition by the Minister of Defence of Ukraine “For Support to the Armed Forces of Ukraine”. Though I have not been in touch with Dan for a number of years, in fact we were colleagues at the McGill Law School in the early 1980’s. As is evident Dan has been personally involved in this still raging war in Ukraine. So let’s welcome Dan to the virtual studio for this podcast.