The mutual-defense alliance has been central to Ukraine’s war against Russia, but the future is uncertain with President Trump back in office.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Friday the U.S. did not want Ukraine to join NATO even before the Trump administration began changing the country’s approach toward the

Pete Hegseth, the new US Secretary of Defense, has stated that his previous remarks about Ukraine's NATO membership being unrealistic did not mean that Ukraine could not join the Alliance in the future.

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine would need the U.S. to help it build up an army as big as that of Russia to serve as a "Plan B" if his country is not admitted into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

"Right now, that is still on the table," said John Coale, President Donald Trump's deputy Ukraine envoy, when asked whether the U.S. had ruled out possible NATO membership for Ukraine. Speaking in an interview with Reuters in Munich,

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that the US had never seen Ukraine as a NATO member, following the latest statements from Washington that Kiev joining the defence alliance would be "unrealistic.

The United States has never seen Ukraine as a NATO member and has never wanted the country in the alliance. This is not just President Donald Trump's position but US policy in general, stated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during the Munich Security Conference.