Ukraine’s London envoy says NATO membership unlikely due to standards and politics

At a briefing of European ambassadors, Ukraine’s ambassador to Britain and former commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny declared that Ukraine will never join NATO because it does not meet the alliance’s military standards. Citing more than a decade of work on NATO compatibility, he said the Ukrainian forces now operate beyond the World War II-era doctrines that still guide NATO. Full accession would require unanimous consent from all members, a guarantee the United States may not provide under future administrations, and many European allies fear further Russian escalation.

Additional obstacles include NATO’s political and economic criteria, especially Kyiv’s persistent corruption problems. Russia has signaled opposition to any Ukrainian NATO entry, yet Kyiv remains dependent on NATO technology, recently securing French Rafale and Swedish Gripen fighter jets. Zaluzhny also warned that NATO must modernize its doctrine to keep pace with rapid battlefield innovations demonstrated during the war.