Former Ukrainian top commander sees no prospect of Kyiv joining NATO

FREE Breaking News Alerts from StreetInsider.com!

E-mail Address

StreetInsider.com Top Tickers, 8/23/2026

1. WMT
2. ROST
3. AAP
4. SPY
5. NVDA
6. AVGO
7. SPCX
8. BABA
9. NTES
10. DE

August 3, 2026 5:48 PM EDT

FILE PHOTO: Ukrainian Ambassador to the United Kingdom Valerie Zaluzhnyi welcomes Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy at an airport in an unknown location, as he arrives for the European Political Community meeting in Britain, July 18, 2024. Ukrainian

(Corrects paragraph 8 to ‌say Zaluzhnyi was ​dismissed ​as Ukraine's top commander in 2024, not last year)

Aug 3 (Reuters) - Ukraine's former top military commander, now ambassador to Britain, ‌was quoted as saying on Monday that there was ⁠no prospect of the country joining NATO, an aspiration entrenched in the constitution.

Valery Zaluzhnyi, ‌quoted by media outlet Evropeiska ‌Pravda, told a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors that Ukraine in no way met the military standards needed to join the alliance.

"I ​know NATO really well. For about 12 years, I personally worked on making sure we met NATO standards, and every year I ⁠heard tales about how we would join NATO any day now," Evropeiska Pravda quoted him ​as telling the meeting.

"Unfortunately, we will never actually join."

Zaluzhnyi said it was "impossible with the level of development that ​the Armed Forces of Ukraine have … to ‌join an organisation guided by World War II doctrines".

Ukraine needed the technology "already in use in NATO member-states, including ⁠anti-missile defence, space capabilities etc", he was quoted as saying.

Ukraine has enshrined in its constitution a strategic goal of membership of NATO and the European ⁠Union. It has, however, acknowledged that currently it would not be welcomed into ​NATO by all its members.

Zaluzhnyi was dismissed as Ukraine's top commander in 2024 over differences with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on conducting the war with Russia, now ‌well into its fifth year.

Opinion surveys on voter trust put him roughly on a par with Zelenskiy and ‌with former Defence Minister Mykhailo Fedorov, sacked as defence minister last month. ⁠Zaluzhnyi's successor as top commander ‌was also dismissed last ​month.

Russia has rejected out of hand any notion of Ukrainian membership of NATO.

(Reporting by Ron Popeski; Editing by ‌Stephen Coates)


Serious News for Serious Traders! Try StreetInsider.com Premium Free!

You May Also Be Interested In





Related Categories

Reuters