Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska attends the Fifth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in Kyiv, Ukraine, in September 2025. (The Office of the First Lady of Ukraine)"We experienced a small part of what you are living through. We admire you, and we will stand with you," said one of the foreign participants after the Russian night attack that happened overnight before our fourth summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen in 2024.Despite the third year of our defense against Russia's invasion, we were preparing the Summit as always in Kyiv, in an open-air setting at the Saint Sophia of Kyiv Reserve, a place where one can breathe Ukraine's centuries-old history.Our guests, my colleagues and experts, arrived from all over the world, some traveling for several days. For many, it was their first visit to Ukraine and their first experience of living in a country under attack every single day.On the evening before the Summit, a storm broke out, so fierce that it shook the windows.Our team, which had spent several weeks preparing the venue for the Summit, stood in the pouring rain, unsure whether anything would still be there by morning. Yet, even when nature finally calmed down, the Russian violent drone attack didn't just shake windows, but destroyed them, along with buildings and lives.We in Ukraine have seen and heard it so many times…But how would a person visiting Ukraine for the first time during the war perceive such an "ordinary" night? We only learned it in the morning.Despite a sleepless night in a shelter, side by side with Kyiv residents, my colleagues from the most distant countries arrived in Sofia on time. That was when I heard the words I quoted at the beginning. And, as subsequent events showed, those were personal heartfelt words, which at times may even be stronger than signed declarations.Participants of the Fourth Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen (from left to right): First Lady Tamara Vučić (Serbia), First Gentleman Dr Aleš Musar (Slovenia), First Lady Rossana Briceño (Belize), First Lady Dr Lucrecia Peinado (Guatemala), First Lady Olena Zelenska (Ukraine), First Lady Sirje Karis (Estonia), First Lady Diana Nausėdienė (Lithuania), First Gentleman Bo Tengberg (Denmark), First Lady Suzanne Innes-Stubb (Finland) in Kyiv, Ukraine, in September 2024. (The Office of the First Lady of Ukraine)This is how I see the essence of our Summit, the first, perhaps we can call it, "professional" community of First Ladies and Gentlemen: it is not just a conference held once a year (though even that alone would make it unique). It is a space of like-minded people, shared by individuals from every corner of the world every day, every moment, fully aware of what they are committing to.I often think now how timely it was that we created this completely new diplomatic channel.In 2021, when I initiated the First Summit of First Ladies and Gentlemen, I was thinking more about the fact that we, together with our colleagues, would finally be able to share our experiences.After all, there is no training for this role anywhere — you can't learn it anywhere, you can't receive a "certificate of qualification." In the past (it now feels like decades rather than just five years ago), the public engagement of First Ladies and Gentlemen was mostly associated with appearances at cultural and social events accompanying more serious occasions.