Ukraine will never join NATO, Zaluzhny says

Ukraine's former army chief Valery Zaluzhny has said the country will "never" join NATO, despite Kyiv's stated aim of joining the US-led military alliance, according to European Pravda.

Zaluzhny, now Ukraine's ambassador to Britain, made the comments at a meeting of Kyiv's ambassadors on Monday, the outlet reported.

"I know NATO very well. For roughly 12 years I've personally worked on mastering NATO standards, and every year I've listened to the same fairytale that we're about to join," he was quoted as saying. "Unfortunately, we never will."

Zaluzhny said that, given the current level of development of Ukraine's armed forces, it was impossible for Ukraine to join an alliance that he said follows doctrines dating from the Second World War.

Ukraine has developed its military industry, especially drone technology, since Russia invaded in 2022. In an opinion article published last month by The Daily Telegraph, Zaluzhny wrote that the war had raised questions about whether NATO was equipped for 21st-century conflicts, while saying Ukraine still depended heavily on allied support.

Zaluzhny was dismissed as army chief by President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2024. A June poll by the Kyiv International Institute of Sociology gave him 73 percent support, making him Ukraine's most trusted public figure in that survey.