The Ambassador of Ukraine to the United Kingdom and former Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhny expressed doubt that Ukraine will ever become a member of NATO. Instead, he considers the country's participation in new European defense alliances to be more realistic. Zaluzhny made this statement during a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors, where he was asked to assess Ukraine's cooperation with the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) — a coalition of ten Northern European countries created to strengthen regional security. In response to a question, the diplomat also touched on the topic of Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic integration. > “I know NATO very well. For about 12 years, I personally worked on our adoption of NATO standards. And every year I heard tales about how we would soon join NATO. Unfortunately, we will never join there,” Zaluzhny stated. In his opinion, the current NATO model does not correspond to the level of development of the modern Armed Forces of Ukraine. > “At the level of development that the Armed Forces of Ukraine have reached, it is impossible to join an organization that is guided by the doctrines of World War II,” said the former commander-in-chief. As an alternative, Zaluzhny suggested developing cooperation with new defense alliances being formed in Europe. One such example he mentioned was the JEF. The JEF includes the United Kingdom, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Estonia. The coalition is not part of NATO but deals with security issues and joint crisis response. In fact, Zaluzhny proposes to focus on those formats of cooperation that, in his opinion, can adapt more quickly to modern threats and new conditions of warfare. > “Ukraine will join blocks and alliances that, apparently, will be created. Most likely, it will be about a European military and defense block,” he stated. Zaluzhny's statements reflect his personal assessment of Ukraine's prospects and do not signify a change in Kyiv's official course, which still considers joining NATO as one of its strategic goals.