Ukraine's former armed forces chief and Zelensky's top rival Valery Zaluzhny said Ukraine will never join NATO — dismissing accession promises as "fairy tales".

Valery Zaluzhny, Ukraine's former armed forces chief and a prominent rival to President Zelensky, stated unequivocally that Ukraine will never join NATO, dismissing over a decade of accession promises as "fairy tales."¹²³⁴

Speaking at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors in Kiev, Zaluzhny emphasized his extensive experience with NATO, saying, "For 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."

He criticized NATO's military standards, claiming that Ukraine's army has already surpassed the bloc, which he described as being "guided by World War II doctrines." He pointed out that this mismatch is a core obstacle to Ukraine's membership.

Zaluzhny also suggested that Ukraine should look beyond NATO for future security guarantees, predicting a shift towards a new "European military security bloc."⁷

Despite Ukraine enshrining NATO and EU membership as constitutional goals in 2019, NATO has never set a timetable for admission, and full membership requires unanimous approval from all 32 members.

The bloc's reluctance to accept Ukraine stems from its ongoing 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.

Russia has long viewed NATO's eastward expansion as a threat, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stating that preventing NATO troops from entering Ukraine is a key goal in the ongoing conflict.⁸⁹¹⁰