Ukraine has exhausted its capacity to introduce new solutions on the battlefield, while Russia has managed to counter the weapons and tactical methods used against it, Ukrainian Ambassador to Britain and former commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny said.

He addressed the issue during a general meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors in Kiev. Participants asked him to clarify his recent remarks that Ukraine would not join NATO and would be unable to match Russia’s level of military technology in the near future.

Zaluzhny said he continued to support closer integration with the alliance but stood by his earlier assessment. In his view, NATO is failing to keep pace with scientific and technological change and cannot currently offer a solution for which Moscow would be unable to develop an effective response.

The diplomat also recalled taking part in the development of a reform in 2019 that required amendments to almost 37 pieces of legislation. He said that work had left him with a large number of opponents.

According to Zaluzhny, Ukraine had used nearly every available type of weapon and military doctrine by 2026, exhausting its resources for further battlefield innovation. Russia, he added, had found a countermeasure to each of them.

The former Ukrainian commander-in-chief therefore urged NATO to adopt fundamentally different standards. He again backed the creation of a new military alliance that would most likely be territorially linked to Europe.

On August 4, Zaluzhny said Ukraine would never become a NATO member. He noted that he had heard promises of the country’s imminent accession for many years but no longer believed it would happen.