Former commander-in-chief Zaluzhnyi says he supports NATO but believes Alliance must transform

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's Ambassador to the United Kingdom and former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, has clarified his recent remarks about Ukraine's prospects for joining NATO.

Source: European Pravda, citing Interfax-Ukraine

Details: Zaluzhnyi was asked to explain his comments about NATO made during a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors. He stressed that he is a supporter of the Alliance but believes it must undergo significant transformation.

The general also noted that in 2019 he was one of the leading advocates and architects of reforming the Armed Forces of Ukraine to meet NATO standards, a role that attracted considerable criticism.

Quote: "You are looking at the person who, in 2019, personally designed the entire reform and drafted amendments to nearly 37 legislative acts to transition Ukraine's strategic-level command system to NATO principles and standards. I made so many enemies that you cannot imagine. I support NATO."

Details: However, Zaluzhnyi argued that "from a political perspective, there are many questions about NATO as an alliance that was built to protect the old world."

"Scientific and technological progress has changed everything. By 2026, Ukraine has used virtually every type of weapon, except perhaps the Tomahawk missiles, nuclear weapons, aircraft carriers and F-35 fighter jets that are in NATO's arsenal, and has applied the doctrines for their use. That resource has been exhausted. Russia has found ways to counter all of this," he explained.

Expanding on his point, he said that "NATO still operates according to a doctrine shaped at the end of the Second World War, while technologically we are already ahead."

"Scientific and technological progress, together with the ongoing war, has brought the Armed Forces of Ukraine to a completely different level. NATO now has no choice but to adopt entirely new standards and develop a fundamentally new doctrine. Only then will NATO be ready for Ukraine's membership. I have said that we need an entirely new security bloc, most likely one centred in Europe. A completely new one," the general said.

As an example, he again pointed to the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), describing it as "a very promising organisation from a political point of view".

Zaluzhnyi added that he regularly attends NATO command and staff exercises held in the UK because they demonstrate the Alliance's military culture and approach to warfare. However, he believes the Alliance must evolve to meet today's security threats.

"Ukraine is fighting Russia without being a member of NATO. Let NATO honestly answer whether it is ready to fight Russia without the experience Ukraine has gained," Zaluzhnyi concluded.

Background:

• Ukraine's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that comments made by Zaluzhnyi about the country's NATO membership prospects had been taken out of context and had attracted widespread attention, even though his full remarks primarily concerned the Joint Expeditionary Force, not NATO.
• During a discussion on Euro-Atlantic integration at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors in Kyiv, Zaluzhnyi was asked to comment on Ukraine's participation in the JEF coalition, after which he spoke more broadly about the Alliance.
• "I know NATO very well. 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 just about to join NATO. Unfortunately, we will never join!" he said at the time.

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