Ukraine’s former commander-in-chief Valerii Zaluzhnyi has reportedly said he does not believe Ukraine will become a member of NATO, arguing that the country’s armed forces do not currently meet the alliance’s military standards.
Speaking at a meeting of Ukrainian ambassadors, Zaluzhnyi, now Ukraine’s ambassador to the United Kingdom, said he had spent more than a decade working towards NATO standards but had repeatedly been told that membership was just around the corner.
“I know NATO very well. For about 12 years I personally worked to ensure we met NATO standards. Every year I was told we would join soon. Unfortunately, we will never actually join,” he was quoted as saying by Ukrainian news outlet Evropeiska Pravda.
He added that Ukraine’s military was still not at the level required to join an alliance whose doctrines were largely shaped by the Second World War.
Ukraine has made NATO and European Union membership a constitutional goal but has acknowledged that not all NATO members currently support its accession. Zaluzhnyi was removed as Ukraine’s top military commander in 2024 following reported disagreements with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy over the conduct of the war.
Meanwhile, Ukraine’s battlefield situation remained largely unchanged throughout July, according to an Agence France-Presse analysis based on data from the Institute for the Study of War. Russian forces captured less than 40 square kilometres during the month, only slightly more than the 30 square kilometres gained in June and significantly lower than the average monthly gains recorded a year earlier.
Most Russian advances were concentrated in the eastern Donetsk region, southern Zaporizhzhia, and the northeastern Sumy region. Ukraine, however, continued carrying out long-range strikes inside Russia and occupied territories while making modest territorial gains of about 29 square kilometres in the Dnipropetrovsk region.
In a separate development, President Zelenskyy dismissed Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States, Olga Stefanishyna, as part of a wider government reshuffle that also saw changes to the prime minister and defence minister.
Stefanishyna said her departure was her own decision based on personal circumstances. She said she had successfully helped secure continued US military support during a period of changing political dynamics in Washington, including efforts to obtain additional Patriot air defence systems.
Russia also reported fresh casualties from Ukrainian attacks, claiming 11 people were killed in separate drone strikes at a Black Sea resort and in Russian-annexed Crimea. Officials said seven people, including three children, died after drone debris struck a beach in Arkhipo-Osipovka, while another four people were killed in Crimea.
Russian authorities also blamed Ukraine for a bombing at a restaurant in central Moscow that killed five people and injured 19, amid speculation that a senior Russian military commander may have been the intended target. Ukrainian authorities have not commented on the allegation.
In Ukraine, Russian attacks continued to cause civilian casualties. One person was killed and dozens injured after aerial bombings struck residential areas in Zaporizhzhia, while another strike near Kryvyi Rih reportedly killed three people, including an eight-year-old child.
Separately, prominent Russian anti-war politician Boris Nadezhdin has reportedly fled to Paris as Russia continues tightening its crackdown on dissent ahead of parliamentary elections later this year.
Nadezhdin, who gained international attention during Russia’s 2024 presidential election after attempting to challenge President Vladimir Putin, was ultimately barred from contesting the election. His departure marks another high-profile exit by a public figure critical of the war in Ukraine.
