Zelensky Says NATO Membership Still In Ukraine’s Future, Contradicting Trump

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky continues to test President Trump, this time contradicting the US leader on the question of Ukraine’s future membership in NATO.

Trump has clearly taken it off the table, as even NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte has recently recognized. But Zelensky in fresh comments said he has not given up on Ukraine’s pursuit of NATO accession.

“You know who does not support Ukraine’s membership in NATO so far, but in any case, no one is removing this issue from the table for the future,” Zelensky said, as quoted in Ukrinform news agency on Friday.

“At least, we are talking about the fact that even if now someone does not want to support [Kiev joining the bloc], we will see what happens in the future,” Zelensky added.

He went on to explain in the comments that until membership in the Western military bloc happens, Kiev should be provided with ”NATO-like security guarantees” by its allies and partners.

Ukraine must be “strong when getting to the negotiating table” in order to achieve a “just peace,” Zelensky said.

Earlier this week, President Trump made clear in reference to Zelensky that “he wants to be a member of NATO. Well, he was never going to be a member of NATO. He understands that.”

The issue of NATO constantly expanding right up to Russia’s borders, which especially ramped up in the mid-2000s during the Bush era, had been consistently identified by President Putin as a key motive in his ordering hundreds of thousands of Russian troops into Ukraine in February of 2022.

Russia saw its ‘special military operation’ as a continuation of a war in Donbass that was already burning since 2014, which saw CIA and Western intelligence assist Kiev in seeking to push back Russian influence. But the reality has always been that natives on the Donbass are overwhelmingly Russian-speaking and pro-Moscow.

Trump also this week while speaking to reporters aboard Air Force One that negotiations have produced “a lot of good conversations about Ukraine and Russia.”

Ukraine joining NATO, as our president said, is “not at all possible,” says Putin envoy Kirill Dmitriev. “That, I think, has been widely accepted, including by the Trump administration.”

Ukraine joining NATO, as our president said, is NOT AT ALL POSSIBLE — Dmitriev

‘That, I think, has been widely accepted, including by the Trump administration’ https://t.co/ZXuezRJdJL pic.twitter.com/rpxUJUC0PP

— RT (@RT_com) April 4, 2025

“We like to see [the war] stopped as soon as possible because thousands of people have been killed in a week,” Trump said. ”Europe has not been successful in dealing with President Putin, but I think I will be successful.” Ukraine’s government has been angry that the White House has pursued direct, bilateral negotiations with Moscow, effectively sidelining the Ukrainians.