One question on everyone’s mind is “what about Ukraine?” While Ukraine is a partner to NATO, not a member-state, the relationship with Ukraine and NATO goes back to the 1990s. For now, Ukrainian membership in NATO seems to be a slow roll, if not a total halt. Ukrainian membership into NATO is a point that Russia has made very clear is a non-starter for them in negotiations to end the war, but is this up for consideration?
While many critics disagree, NATO holds the official position that membership for Ukraine is on the table. According to NATO’s website, nations that meet the standards and benchmarks agreed to by NATO are eligible for membership. Ukrainian NATO membership talks began in 2008 and have been an ebb and flow since. But while membership isn’t currently in order, due to multiple factors, aid is.
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy attended the 2025 summit and coalesced with member-states, lobbying for additional resources and support. In 2016, after what NATO recognized as an illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, NATO began providing resources to Ukraine through the Comprehensive Assistance Package (CAP) for Ukraine, support that has only increased into multi-year support plans since subsequent summits. During the 2024 Washington Summit, the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU) was established to coordinate the provision of military training and equipment for Ukraine.
In 2024, allies supplied €50 billion to Ukraine. Additional support was provided at the 2025 summit. While significant support from the U.S. hasn’t ceased, tensions between the U.S. and Ukraine appeared tough leading up to the summit, especially considering what many in the U.S. felt was a show of disrespect by President Zelenskyy in the Oval Office earlier this year. However, recent comments by President Trump have indicated that more aid to Ukraine is inevitable. With casualties from both sides now over 1.5 million, and Putin’s apparent unwillingness to end the war and come to an agreement on peace, President Trump seems to be at the end of his rope. Earlier this month, when discussing weapons to Ukraine, he stated:
We’re going to send some more weapons, we have to—they have to be able to defend themselves. They’re getting hit very hard.
And President Trump delivered, but unlike in prior administrations, the aid is not free. The United States will serve as a strategic supplier for Ukraine, wherein NATO members/European allies will purchase American weapons systems for Ukraine and deliver those systems accordingly.
While no guarantees for NATO membership are on the table, President Trump’s recent comments about his negotiations with President Putin indicate he is ready for this war to end. While all evidence points to an unlikely outcome of official NATO membership (which would invoke Article 5) any time soon, what that means for Ukraine and Russia, and an end to this conflict, is anyone’s guess.
What’s Next?
President Trump’s remarks at the summit were more positive than in the past, but they didn’t reflect a complete 180 from previous years’ evaluations. He continued to press for reform within NATO, emphasizing the alliance’s need to modernize and proactively adapt to the security challenges of the 21st century. The president also advocated for a “results-oriented NATO” focused on tangible outcomes—a task that President Trump has given to the U.S. NATO representative, Matthew Whitaker.
President Trump maintained the U.S. commitment to national sovereignty for all nations and emphasized that alliances like NATO can, and do, serve U.S. interests when built on fairness, accountability, and shared responsibility. Rather than new comments on reconsidering the role of the U.S. in the alliance, President Trump reframed NATO as a tool for advancing American priorities: security, economic strength, and strategic alignment with like-minded nations.
In order to remain effective and credible in an increasingly complex geopolitical landscape, President Trump’s message reinforced the expectation that NATO must evolve in scope, not simply expand in size and finances.
Whether in a perceived peripheral state or not, Russia and China remain major threats to U.S. and European sovereignty and security. President Trump doesn’t want NATO sitting on its laurels, waiting for that to show up on their doorsteps in an ugly way, and his language at the 2025 NATO summit reflected that sentiment.
For more coverage on this topic, listen to Taylor’s recent segments on WFEA.