Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine’s former top military commander and now ambassador to the United Kingdom, was quoted on Monday as saying Ukraine had no realistic prospect of joining NATO. Speaking at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors, he said the country did not meet the military standards required by the alliance.
The remarks challenge one of Kyiv’s formally enshrined strategic goals at a time when Ukraine is still seeking military and political support from Western partners. Ukraine has acknowledged that not all NATO members would currently support its admission, while fighting and long-range strikes continue across Ukraine and Russia.
At a glance:
- Russian forces gained less than 40 sq km in July, compared with 405 sq km a month on average a year earlier.
- At least five people were killed in drone attacks in the Moscow region, according to the regional governor.
- Ukraine dismissed its ambassador to the United States amid a wider government reshuffle and efforts to secure more Patriot missiles.
Zaluzhnyi’s assessment of NATO membership
Zaluzhnyi said Ukraine could not join NATO with the current level of development of its armed forces. Evropeiska Pravda, which reported his comments, quoted him as saying that the alliance was guided by doctrines dating from the second world war and that Ukraine did not meet the military standards needed for entry.
Related coverage: How Ukraine’s Volunteer Army Restores War-Damaged Buildings in Kyiv.
The former commander said he had spent about 12 years working to bring Ukraine closer to NATO standards and had repeatedly heard that membership was imminent. His conclusion, as reported by the Ukrainian news website, was that Ukraine would not actually join the alliance.
Ukraine’s constitution identifies membership of NATO and the European Union as strategic objectives. Zaluzhnyi was removed as commander-in-chief in 2024 after disagreements with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the conduct of the war with Russia. His comments now come while Kyiv continues to depend on Western weapons and diplomatic backing, including a campaign for additional Patriot air-defence missiles from Washington.
Frontlines show slower Russian advances
Russian forces made limited territorial gains in July, according to an Agence France-Presse analysis of data from the Institute for the Study of War. Their total advance was under 40 sq km, only slightly above the 30 sq km recorded in June and far below the average monthly gain of 405 sq km a year earlier.
More context: Civilian Deaths Reported Amid Ongoing Attacks in Ukraine and Russian-Occupied Areas.
The reported Russian advances were concentrated in Donetsk in eastern Ukraine, Zaporizhzhia in the south and Sumy in the north-east. Ukrainian forces gained 29 sq km in the Dnipropetrovsk region, continuing a pattern that began in December 2025.
The figures indicate that Ukraine has largely stalled Russia’s recent momentum, although they do not signal an end to the fighting. Kyiv has also carried out effective strikes deep inside Russia and in occupied Ukrainian territory, while Russian attacks on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure have continued.
Attacks and political changes widen pressure on Kyiv
A Ukrainian drone attack in the Moscow region killed five people and injured six, Governor Andrei Vorobyov said on Tuesday. Fires broke out in the Novoselki industrial zone near Chekhov, including at a warehouse where firefighters extinguished the largest blaze. A warehouse facility near St Petersburg was also hit, according to regional governor Alexander Drozdenko.
Also read: Deadly Russian missile attack hits defence event near Kyiv amid ongoing conflict.
Russian officials also blamed Ukrainian attacks for 11 deaths at a Black Sea resort and in Crimea. Seven people, including three children, were reported killed after drone debris struck a beach at Arkhipo-Osipovka in the Krasnodar region, while four died in a strike in Crimea, according to Moscow-installed officials. Ukrainian authorities had not commented on the earlier Moscow restaurant bombing that killed five and injured 19.
Inside Ukraine, Russian aerial attacks killed one person and injured dozens in residential areas of Zaporizhzhia, regional officials said. Three people, including an eight-year-old child, were killed near Kryvyi Rih at a service station. Zelenskyy has also dismissed ambassador Olga Stefanishyna in Washington during a broader reshuffle that includes changes to the prime minister and defence minister. Stefanishyna said her departure was her own decision and pointed to efforts during her tenure to maintain US weapons supplies and support. Finland meanwhile imposed a temporary aviation restriction area in the eastern Gulf of Finland, adding a regional security measure as cross-border drone activity persisted. The immediate military question remains whether Ukraine can preserve its ability to blunt Russian advances while sustaining external support.
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