The McCain Institute at Arizona State University today hosted the Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin and the Ambassador-At-Large for Global Criminal Justice at the U.S. Department of State Beth Van Schaack for a meeting of the McCain Institute’s newly formed Ukraine Business Alliance.
The McCain Institute’s Ukraine Business Alliance convenes executives from American technology and defense companies (including Palantir Technologies, Microsoft and Amazon Web Services), senior U.S. and Ukrainian government and military leaders, and foreign policy experts to strategize innovative public-private partnerships to support Ukraine.
“Rebuilding Ukraine will require a whole-of-society effort. The private sector’s technology contributions will be especially important in helping Ukraine leapfrog ahead in warfighting, reconstruction and achieving accountability for atrocities,” said McCain Institute Executive Director Evelyn Farkas, former deputy assistant secretary of defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia. “By convening the top leaders in business, government, and military, we can harness the strengths of the private and public sectors to ensure that democracy prevails in Ukraine and atrocities are punished.”
Since the beginning of Russia’s invasion, Ukraine’s prosecutor general has identified thousands of incidents that may constitute war crimes. The war in Ukraine is on track to become the most well-documented crime scene in human history. As the legacy institute of Senator John S. McCain, the McCain Institute is driven to ensure the perpetrators of these atrocities are held accountable in international and Ukrainian courts.
Today’s meeting of the Ukraine Business Alliance focused on supporting the investigators and prosecutors in Ukraine with the best tools available. The prosecutor general, senior U.S. government officials, leading experts on Ukraine, and executives from leading tech companies discussed how different sectors can work together to support the Prosecutor General’s Office of Ukraine.
“I want to thank the McCain Institute for hosting me and my colleagues today,” Prosecutor General of Ukraine Andriy Kostin said. “The support of the U.S. Congress, U.S. government, American companies, and the American people has been indispensable in our fight against Russian aggression. Strong international partnerships are crucial as we seek justice for the millions of Ukrainians impacted by the war.”
“The invasion of Ukraine presents the most significant challenge to the balance of power in Europe in more than half a century,” said Alexander C. Karp, co-founder and chief executive officer of Palantir Technologies Inc. and chairman of The Palantir Foundation for Defense Policy & International Affairs. “We are committed to ensuring that those working to uphold the rule of law and defending Ukraine as a nation state have the software they need for as long as it takes.”
“Convenings like today, between governments and private actors, are so important. They allow us to learn from each other, impart our respective expertise to one another, and identify technical solutions to emerging legal problems in hopes of collectively pushing forward efforts on accountability,” said Ambassador Beth Van Schaack. “My deepest thanks to the McCain Institute for convening such an important gathering of leading thinkers in the area of technology and accountability to support Prosecutor General Kostin, his team, and the people of Ukraine.”
The Ukraine Business Alliance will meet regularly throughout the year to encourage cross-collaboration to advance the goal of supporting Ukraine’s war effort and reconstruction. Periodic fact-finding missions to Ukraine and other frontline states will be organized to gauge how the business community can further support Ukraine.
