Ukrainians' Waning Hope for NATO Accession

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that he was ready to step down from his post if it would bring peace to his country. He could resign in exchange for NATO membership, Zelensky suggested at a press conference on the eve of the third anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion.

NATO membership has been long sought after by Ukraine, as it would closely align the country with Europe and the West and most importantly protect it from further Russian aggression. Russia on the other hand, has repeatedly said that it considers NATO’s eastward expansion a direct threat to its national security, using it as a justification for the invasion of Ukraine. NATO recently reaffirmed that Ukraine’s future is in NATO, saying it will support the country on “its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.”

Despite those reassurances, Ukrainians have growing doubts about an eventual accession to NATO, as Gallup data shows. Even before Trump’s re-election in November, which hasn’t improved Ukraine’s chances of a quick accession, 22 percent of surveyed Ukrainians said that they believed their country would never join the alliance, up from just 10 percent a year earlier. At the same time, the share of respondents expecting Ukraine to join NATO within 10 years dropped from 69 percent to 51 percent between August 2023 and August 2024.