Zelenskyy: I Will Not Take Ukraine’s NATO Membership Off the Table

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reaffirmed that Ukraine will not remove NATO membership from the negotiation agenda. Speaking at the 2025 Munich Security Conference, he emphasized the necessity of strong security guarantees and criticized the current decision-making dynamics within the alliance.

“I will not take Ukraine’s NATO membership off the table. But right now the most influential NATO member seems to be Putin. Because his whims have the power to block NATO decisions,” Zelenskyy stated.

According to him, Russian leader Vladimir Putin appears to have significant influence over NATO’s decision-making, as his demands have the power to block key decisions.

“This is despite the fact that it was Ukraine’s military that stopped Russia—not NATO countries, not NATO forces, but our people and our army. No foreign armies are fighting alongside Ukraine in this war. Meanwhile, Russia has lost nearly 250,000 soldiers, with more than 610,000 wounded,” Zelenskyy noted.

He also underlined Ukraine’s ongoing diplomatic efforts, expressing hope that on February 24, the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion, European leaders will convene in Kyiv to discuss concrete steps for security guarantees and future policies.

Earlier, John Coale, deputy Ukraine envoy for President Donald Trump, stated that Ukraine’s NATO membership and a potential return to its pre-2014 borders remain on the table. His remarks came after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth initially called the pre-2014 borders an “unrealistic objective” but later clarified that “everything is on the table” in negotiations.