It was refreshing this week to hear Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the current Ukrainian Ambassador to the UK, and former Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian armed forces, bluntly argue that Ukraine will never join NATO. Zaluzhnyi argued that NATO membership was no longer relevant for Ukraine, as Ukraine has moved on in terms of defense capability, whereas NATO has stood still and brought little to the table for Ukraine. Zaluzhnyi argued that whereas Ukraine has created a fighting force for the future, with drones and technology center stage, and is setting the boundaries of modern warfare through its defense against Russia’s war in Ukraine, NATO still, in mindset (and capability), is fighting wars more similar to WWII.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. European NATO, if anything, is struggling to be relevant, and what is more interesting for Ukraine now are bilateral military agreements with individual states with particular capabilities – the U.K., Türkiye, Finland, Poland, etc. al. He has a point here in that at this stage, with European NATO likely struggling even to defend themselves against a potential Russian attack, what would they, as part of a NATO expansion to Ukraine, bring to Ukraine’s defense? As has long been clear, Ukraine is central now to the defense of European NATO, and not the other way around. Ukraine now has a far more advanced military capability forged out of war, necessity, innovation and bravery, and is the front line for Europe in its defense against Russian aggression. Europe brings much less, aside perhaps from finance, to the table in terms of helping Ukraine in its defense.