One of Ukraine's most respected generals has said out loud that the country's constitutional goal of NATO membership will never happen. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to Britain, does not see Kyiv's path to NATO membership, he said in a discussion on Euro-Atlantic integration at a meeting of ambassadors in Kyiv, European Pravda reports.

The statement is striking because of who made it and from where. Zaluzhnyi, the former commander-in-chief, is, as ambassador to a leading NATO member, formally part of the machinery pursuing the alliance path.

"I know NATO very well. For about 12 years, I personally worked on us mastering NATO standards and listened every year to fairy tales that said that any moment now we'd join NATO. Unfortunately, we will never join it," he said.

His case against joining

Zaluzhnyi argued the obstacle runs both ways. Ukraine cannot join at the level of development its Armed Forces have reached, "an organization that holds the doctrines of the Second World War," he said, dismissing NATO's capabilities despite the membership of Britain, the US, and others.

He was blunt about the alliance's trajectory. NATO will most likely stay in the same form it is now, he said, and would need 12 years, as Ukraine has, to reach the standards required to match even half the Russian level.

Despite this assessment, Zaluzhnyi acknowledged that "Ukraine needs technologies that are currently still held by NATO countries, including in areas such as anti-ballistic missile defense and space capabilities."

What he proposes instead

That view aligns Ukraine's security future with the European defense architecture now under discussion, the coalition of the willing, and the anti-ballistic coalitions Ukraine has helped assemble, rather than with the transatlantic alliance.

Zaluzhnyi's remarks are his own assessment, delivered in a diplomatic discussion, and Ukraine's official policy remains the constitutional Euro-Atlantic course.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's ambassador to the United Kingdom and former commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces, commented on Telegram on the appointment of Major General Mykhailo Drapatyi as commander-in-chief.

On 21 July, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced that Drapatyi will replace Oleksandr Syrskyi, with the General Staff's configuration to be renewed in the most significant shake-up of Ukraine's military leadership since the full-scale war began, following six days of nationwide protests.

A person's calling, Zaluzhnyi wrote, is filled above all with moral principles and values that form honor, "which is dearer than any posts and awards." Those who think and act otherwise, he added, "will always, sooner or later, receive shame."

The words carry the weight of the author's own history. Zaluzhnyi was himself dismissed as commander-in-chief by Zelenskyy in February 2024, at the height of his popularity with no public explanation, and replaced by Syrskyi — the man now removed. He commented on the change from London, where Zelenskyy sent him as ambassador to the UK.

"Much harder than he imagines"

Zaluzhnyi's message to his successor's successor is a warning wrapped in confidence.

"It will be very hard for the new commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Much harder than he imagines. But Mykhailo will certainly never be ashamed. A man of honor has no idol, so he has nothing to lose. The only thing he has is duty," Zaluzhnyi wrote.

Honor, he said, "creates ideas and seeks ways to realize them. And it is this that drives one to seek people who will carry their heavy cross with you, with honor."

Drapatyi inherits reformist mandate and strained army

Drapatyi, 43, arrives as the protesters' candidate. Demonstrators, soldiers, and veterans widely viewed the Joint Forces Commander and former Land Forces chief as the leading choice to replace Syrskyi, whose centralized, Soviet-rooted command style drew criticism for micromanagement and, some soldiers said, unjustifiably high losses.

Drapatyi is seen as a general of a new generation.

He had also aligned himself publicly with the reform camp whose defeat triggered the crisis. Drapatyi praised dismissed Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov's six months at the ministry as a genuine effort to change long-standing military rules. 

"The military needs change, but without justice, no change will make sense to the people who carry this war on their shoulders every day," he warned.

Zelenskyy thanked Syrskyi for delivering results in the defense of Kyiv, the Kharkiv counteroffensive, and the Kursk operation. The protests that ran from 16 to 21 July had demanded both Fedorov's reinstatement and Syrskyi's removal. Whether the first follows remains the open question of the reshuffle.