Ukraine’s former top commander Valerii Zaluzhnyi says he supports NATO, but Russia has found a counter to nearly all its weapons

Valerii Zaluzhnyi, Ukraine's former military commander and current ambassador to the United Kingdom, clarified recent NATO comments in an interview with journalists in Kyiv. According to Meduza, Zaluzhnyi has long advocated for Ukraine to adopt NATO military standards—a position that once drew significant criticism within the armed forces. He argues that NATO itself operates on World War II-era doctrines that no longer fit modern warfare. Zaluzhnyi says Ukraine has deployed nearly all NATO weapons systems in its arsenal except for advanced fighter jets like the F-thirty-fives and nuclear arms. He contends Russia has developed countermeasures to all of them. This exhaustion, Zaluzhnyi argues, proves NATO must completely rethink its military standards before Ukraine can meaningfully join—and he suggests the entire security model may need replacing with a new European arrangement.

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