After 12 years of rapprochement with NATO, Zaluzhnyi says that Ukraine will never join the Alliance

Today Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said in a comment to the Polish publication Rzeczpospolita that Ukraine will never become a member of NATO.

The Polish newspaper published his assessment, in which the diplomat emphasizes: he draws this conclusion after a long period of work implementing Alliance standards in the Ukrainian military.

“I know NATO very well. For about 12 years I personally worked on ensuring we adopted the Alliance’s standards, and every year I heard that we were already close to joining NATO. Unfortunately, we will never join it,” — said Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom Valeriy Zaluzhnyi in a comment to Rzeczpospolita.

Zaluzhnyi emphasizes his personal experience of interacting with NATO, noting that despite annual assurances about moving closer to membership, in his view the prospect of Ukraine joining the Alliance is absent.

His statement came amid discussions within NATO about strengthening nuclear deterrence in Europe due to the growing threats from Russia.

Earlier we wrote:

• Zelensky warned NATO: if the doors are closed, Ukraine will create its own alliance
• Zelensky: “Promises about Ukraine’s accession to NATO were dishonest”
• Zelensky: Ukraine can become part of NATO, leaving Putin without a chance!
• Zelensky hinted to Trump: either nuclear weapons for Ukraine, or NATO
• Boris Johnson: Ukraine should be admitted to NATO by the end of Biden’s term