What happened
Valery Zaluzhny, former top military commander of Ukraine, said Ukraine will “never” join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Zaluzhny made the remarks at a meeting of Kyiv’s ambassadors, and the statement directly challenges Ukraine’s publicly stated aim of moving toward NATO membership.
Background and earlier position
The Russia–Ukraine war began in 2022. During this period, Ukraine has publicly sought NATO membership, making NATO membership a continuing foreign-policy objective in addition to wartime security priorities.
What changed now
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