On 29 August 2022, the Secretariat of the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) Germany, based at the German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS), hosted an online exchange for its members and partners on sustainability in the current geopolitical tensions. The exchange focused on the question of how Russia’s war against Ukraine affects the (inter)national sustainability agenda. Dr Axel Berger, Deputy Director (interim) of IDOS and Executive Director of SDSN Germany, emphasised the need for a deeper exchange on the impact of the Russian war of aggression on the different dimensions of the sustainability agenda. Afterwards, experts from various fields of sustainable development reflected on the impact of the war in Ukraine on agriculture and food, energy supply and development cooperation, among others. From IDOS, Prof Dr Anna-Katharina Hornidge, Director, and Prof Dr Ulrich Volz, researcher, shared their perspectives on the (inter)national impacts of the war in the fields of global health policy and sustainable finance. Prof Dr Gesine Schwan, Co-Chair of the SDSN Germany Leadership Council, then summarised the experts‘ findings and discussed with the participants the role of SDSN Germany as a sustainability network against the background of the challenges explained.