NATO’s Military Committee visited Kyiv on October 6, bringing representatives of all 32 member states together for talks with Ukraine’s military leadership on battlefield priorities and further assistance. The visit was disclosed the following day, alongside a renewed message of support from the committee’s chair, Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone.
The delegation met Ukraine’s commander-in-chief, Mykhailo Drapatyi, and other military officials. Cavo Dragone said the discussions covered Ukraine’s operational needs and lessons from the war that could help NATO members improve their preparedness for existing and future threats.
Cavo Dragone described the trip as the committee’s first official visit in eight years. NATO’s account of its April 2018 visit records meetings in Lviv and a tour of the Yavoriv training centre, where allied representatives reviewed military cooperation and Ukrainian defence reforms.
According to NATO’s account of the latest visit, delegates also toured sites involved in air defence, drone warfare and unmanned ground systems. They held discussions in the NATO-Ukraine Council format and paid tribute to fallen Ukrainian service members at Kyiv’s Wall of Remembrance.
The military consultations took place on the same day that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Ukrainian membership of NATO was “not on the table as we speak.” Speaking in Reykjavik on October 6, he cited the need for unanimous agreement among allies and said Washington’s immediate focus was on bringing the war to an end.
NATO’s published position continues to describe Ukraine as being on an “irreversible path” toward membership. That commitment is conditional, however: an invitation can be extended only when allies agree and the required conditions are met.
Ukraine’s membership ambitions predate the current war. NATO leaders endorsed eventual Ukrainian accession at their 2008 Bucharest summit; Kyiv subsequently pursued a period of non-alignment before restoring membership as a strategic objective. The goal entered Ukraine’s constitution in 2019, and Kyiv renewed its request to join in September 2022.
Russia has demanded Ukrainian neutrality as part of a settlement and argues that Western military infrastructure in Ukraine would threaten its security. NATO maintains that Ukraine has the right to choose its own security arrangements and describes its assistance as support for Ukrainian self-defence.
The Military Committee advises NATO’s political leadership on military policy and strategy and regularly consults countries outside the alliance. Such meetings can advance military cooperation, but they do not replace the political agreement required to admit a new member.