NATO lags so far behind Russia when it comes to modern warfare that the military alliance may need about twelve years just to reach even half the capacity of the Russian military on today’s battlefield. This is claimed by Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who also says Ukraine will never become a NATO member and describes previous announcements about future membership as “fairy tales.”
The statements were made during a meeting with Ukrainian ambassadors in Kyiv, where Valerii Zaluzhnyi—since 2024 Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom after previously serving as the commander-in-chief—delivered harsh criticism against NATO’s military development and ability to adapt to the modern battlefield.
Zaluzhnyi led Ukraine’s armed forces until 2024, when he was dismissed by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy after disagreements regarding how to wage the war. He was then appointed Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom and is today one of the country’s most popular public figures according to opinion polls.
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According to him, NATO has not adapted to the changes that the war in Ukraine has shown, but still relies on military doctrines developed during World War II, despite drones, advanced technology, and new ways of fighting having changed how modern wars are waged.
Criticism of NATO’s capability has intensified following experiences from the war in Ukraine. During the NATO exercise Hedgehog 2025 in Estonia, a battle group with several thousand soldiers participated, including a British brigade and an Estonian division.
According to the Wall Street Journal, a Ukrainian team of about ten people, acting as the opposing force during the exercise, launched a counterattack in which they managed within around half a day to simulate the destruction of 17 armored vehicles and carried out 30 attacks on other targets.
The result was later described as “terrible” for NATO forces by Aivar Hanniotti, who led the opposing side during the exercise. According to him, the opposition force simulated the destruction of two battalions in a single day, while NATO troops failed even to neutralize the opposing side’s drone operators.
12 years to reach half
Valerii Zaluzhnyi believes that NATO will likely need about twelve years to make the transition necessary to reach even half of Russia’s current military capabilities. This is reported by both Ukrainian and British media.
“Most likely, NATO will remain in the same form as today and will need to spend twelve years, like Ukraine, transitioning to the standards required just to reach at least half of Russia’s,” Zaluzhnyi said.
At the same time, he emphasizes that Ukraine is still dependent on technology possessed by NATO countries, including advanced air defense systems, anti-ballistic defenses, and space-based military technology.
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Instead, he believes Ukraine should focus on other security solutions. Zaluzhnyi considers that future European military cooperation may be a more realistic alternative than NATO.
He particularly highlighted the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), a defense cooperation led by the United Kingdom with participation from several European countries, as a structure Ukraine should have worked more actively to join. At the same time, he noted that JEF still lacks the collective defense guarantees that exist within NATO.
“Fairy tales” that Ukraine will join NATO
Despite Ukraine’s constitution stating that NATO membership is a strategic goal, the alliance has never presented any timetable for Ukrainian entry. Several NATO country leaders have previously expressed support for future accession, but no concrete membership offer has been made.
The former commander-in-chief Zaluzhnyi also criticized Ukraine’s years-long efforts to become a NATO member. According to Zaluzhnyi, he spent about twelve years developing the Ukrainian armed forces along NATO principles while being repeatedly told that membership was close.
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But the recurring messages about future membership are now described by the former commander-in-chief as “fairy tales.”
“Unfortunately, we will never join NATO,” Zaluzhnyi said in Kyiv.
Russia has long opposed Ukrainian membership in NATO, claiming that such a development would pose a threat to its national security. Russian President Vladimir Putin has also pointed to Ukraine’s NATO ambitions as one of the reasons for the invasion in February 2022.
Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump has repeatedly said that Ukraine will not become a NATO member. Critics argue that such a stance means Washington is in practice conceding to Moscow’s demands on the issue.
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy himself has admitted that membership is not realistic in the near future and has previously said that Ukraine could give up its NATO ambitions in exchange for credible security guarantees from the West.
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