- U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio says Ukraine's NATO membership is not on the table as Washington focuses on ending the war.
- Any admission would require the agreement of all 32 NATO members.
- Trump has repeatedly ruled out Ukraine joining NATO as part of a peace deal.
- Former commander Zaluzhnyi reportedly said Ukraine will never join, though Kiev says his words were taken out of context.
- Trump's envoys visited Moscow and Kiev in September as the push to end the war continues.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio stated Tuesday that Ukraine's long-sought membership in NATO is "not on the table" as the Trump administration focuses on ending the war between Kiev and Moscow. Speaking at a press conference in Reykjavik alongside Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgerdur Katrin Gunnarsdottir, Rubio added that any admission would need a unanimous vote among the alliance's 32 members. The statement follows a September trip by President Donald Trump's envoys, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, to Moscow and Kiev.
Zelensky's NATO dream fades as Washington pushes for peace
For over a decade, Ukraine has pursued NATO membership as a cornerstone of its foreign policy, and in September 2022 it submitted an application for fast-tracked entry. But that goal has repeatedly collided with political reality. Asked about Ukraine's bid, Rubio said there was no simple answer, emphasizing that "right now, we're simply focused, when it comes to Ukraine, on the ending of this conflict, if that's possible."
The Trump administration's position is clear: the president has said more than once that NATO membership cannot be part of any peace deal. At a Cabinet meeting two days before he hosted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House in February 2025, Trump said, "NATO – you can forget about."
Zaluzhnyi's remarks on NATO cause a stir in Kiev
Even some Ukrainians are voicing similar skepticism. Valerii Zaluzhnyi, who led Ukraine's armed forces before becoming its ambassador to the U.K., told a gathering of the country's ambassadors in Kiev in early August that Ukraine will never join NATO, the Kyiv Independent reported. Zaluzhnyi argued the alliance's military standards are outdated, saying it is "impossible for the Ukrainian Armed Forces, given their current level of development, to join an organization that is guided by World War II doctrines."
He added that bringing NATO up to even half of Russia's level would take about 12 years. The Foreign Ministry said his remarks were taken out of context, noting he was answering a question about the Joint Expeditionary Force. Spokesperson Heorhii Tykhyi insisted Ukraine's "course toward joining the North Atlantic Alliance remains unchanged."
Russia's objections remain a key barrier to membership
Moscow has pointed to Kiev's NATO ambitions as one of the main reasons for the conflict, and it regards the bloc's expansion toward its borders as a significant threat to its security. The United States and other allies, for their part, have shown little appetite for taking in a country that is fighting a nuclear-armed neighbor.
July's NATO summit in Ankara ended with strong words of support and new funding commitments for Kiev, but no timetable for Ukraine's membership. That silence stands in stark contrast to the 2024 Washington summit, where allies declared Ukraine's path to membership "irreversible."
Washington steps up its push to end the war
With NATO membership effectively off the table, the Trump administration has stepped up its push to end the war. Witkoff and Kushner met Vladimir Putin in Moscow on Sept. 5 before traveling to Kiev the next day. Trump struck an optimistic note at the NATO summit in July, saying, "I think they both want to make a deal ... I think we're going to get it settled, hopefully soon."
Zelensky has previously signaled that Kiev could put off joining NATO in exchange for security guarantees from Washington and its European allies. Yet after years of Western money and weapons flowing to Kiev, Washington now says the membership that Trump has blamed for helping start the war is "not on the table" for now. That raises an uncomfortable question for the Western leaders who spent years promising Kiev a path to the alliance: what was it all for, and who will answer for it?
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