NATO Military Committee Visits Kiev Amid Ukraine Membership Debate

By Staff, Agencies

Military representatives from all 32 NATO member states have arrived in Kiev for the first visit by the alliance’s Military Committee to Ukraine in eight years, amid continued uncertainty over the country’s prospects for joining the bloc.

The visit came a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said possible Ukrainian NATO membership, one of the central issues surrounding the Ukraine conflict, “is not on the table as we speak.”

Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, chair of the NATO Military Committee, said the delegation had arrived “in full strength” with a message that the bond between NATO and Ukraine was becoming stronger.

The delegation held discussions with senior Ukrainian military officials on the country’s military priorities and lessons from the conflict that could strengthen NATO’s preparedness for “current and future threats.”

Ukraine has pursued NATO membership as a major foreign policy objective since 2014 and later incorporated the goal into its constitution. In September 2022, President Vladimir Zelensky called for “accelerated accession,” while in July he described Ukrainian membership as “entirely natural.”

NATO continues to describe Ukraine as being on an “irreversible path” toward membership. However, former Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny, now Ukraine’s ambassador to the UK, said in August that he saw no realistic prospect of accession.

Moscow has long opposed NATO’s eastward expansion and has identified Ukrainian neutrality as a key condition for a potential settlement, arguing that NATO’s presence in Ukraine would pose a threat to Russian national security.

Despite not being a NATO member, Ukraine has developed extensive military ties with the alliance and has received increasingly advanced Western weapons since 2022. Moscow has accused NATO of prolonging the conflict and conducting a proxy confrontation against Russia.

Several influential NATO members, including the US and Germany, have also expressed reservations about Ukrainian membership. NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte said in July that “there is no unanimous support now” for Ukraine’s admission.