{"id":7802,"date":"2026-08-04T08:18:42","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T08:18:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/?p=7802"},"modified":"2026-08-07T13:49:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T13:49:00","slug":"ukraine-will-never-join-nato-zelenskys-top-rival","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/2026\/08\/04\/ukraine-will-never-join-nato-zelenskys-top-rival\/","title":{"rendered":"Ukraine \u2018will never join\u2019 NATO \u2013 Zelensky\u2019s top rival"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bloc is years behind both Moscow and Kiev in terms of military doctrines, Valery Zaluzhny has said<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ukraine will never become a member of NATO, the country\u2019s former armed forces chief Valery Zaluzhny has said, dismissing over a decade of accession promises as \u201cfairy tales.\u201d<\/em> At the same time, he said the bloc follows outdated doctrines and remains weaker than the Russian military.<\/p>\n

Zaluzhny, who now serves as Kiev\u2019s ambassador to the UK and is widely believed to be Vladimir Zelensky\u2019s top rival in a potential presidential election, made the remarks on Monday during a discussion on Euro-Atlantic integration at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors in Kiev. Asked to comment on Kiev\u2019s role in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force comprised of NATO members, he launched a broadside at the bloc itself.
<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cI know NATO very well,\u201d<\/em> Zaluzhny said, as cited by European Pravda. \u201cFor about 12 years, I personally worked to ensure that we adopted NATO standards, and every year I listened to fairy tales that we were about to join. Unfortunately, we will never join it.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Ukraine's
Zelensky\u2019s top rival vows to challenge him in election \u2013 media<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Zaluzhny claimed that in terms of military prowess, Ukraine\u2019s army has already outgrown the bloc, which he said is still \u201cguided by World War II doctrines,\u201d<\/em> calling the mismatch the core obstacle to membership.
<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cNATO will most likely remain in its current form and will spend another 12 years \u2013 just as Ukraine did \u2013 transitioning to the standards required to reach even half the level of the Russian Federation,\u201d<\/em> he said, although he conceded Kiev still needs Western technology such as anti-missile defense and space capabilities.<\/p>\n

\n Read more<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\n \"Ukraine\u2019s
Zelensky claims Ukraine is \u2018not losing\u2019 to Russia<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Regarding future potential security guarantees, Zaluzhny suggested Kiev look past NATO altogether, predicting Ukraine would instead align with a new \u201cEuropean military security bloc.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Following a Western-backed coup in Kiev, Ukraine enshrined NATO and EU membership as constitutional goals in 2019, with Zelensky formally requesting \u201caccelerated accession\u201d<\/em> in September 2022. NATO, however, has never set a timetable for admission, and full membership requires unanimous approval from all 32 members.<\/p>\n

The bloc has also been reluctant to accept Ukraine due to its conflict with Russia, with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and US Secretary of War Pete Hegseth both ruling out accession as part of any potential peace deal between Kiev and Moscow.<\/p>\n

Russia has for decades seen NATO\u2019s eastward expansion as an existential threat and has ruled out Ukrainian membership of the bloc under any settlement. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has said that preventing NATO troops from entering Ukraine is one of Russia\u2019s key goals in the conflict.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bloc is years behind both Moscow and Kiev in terms of military doctrines, Valery Zaluzhny has said Ukraine will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7804,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[11],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7802"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7802"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7806,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7802\/revisions\/7806"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7804"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/youtubexyoutube.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}