Ukraine–NATO relations

Relations between Ukraine and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) started in 1991 following Ukraine's independence after the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Ukraine-NATO ties gradually strengthened during the 1990s and 2000s, when Ukraine aimed to eventually join the alliance. Although co-operating with NATO, Ukraine remained a neutral country. Ukraine has increasingly sought NATO membership after it was attacked by Russia in 2014, and again in 2022. NATO has increased its support for, and co-operation with, Ukraine.

Ukraine joined NATO's Partnership for Peace in 1994. The NATO-Ukraine Commission was founded in 1997, tasked with developing the NATO-Ukraine relationship. Ukraine joined NATO's Intensified Dialogue program in 2005. At the 2008 Bucharest summit, NATO declined to offer Ukraine a Membership Action Plan, but said that Ukraine would eventually join the alliance. In 2010, during the presidency of Viktor Yanukovych, the Ukrainian parliament voted to abandon the goal of NATO membership and re-affirm Ukraine's neutral status, while continuing its co-operation with NATO. In the February 2014 Ukrainian Revolution, Ukraine's parliament voted to remove Yanukovych, but the new government did not seek to change its neutral status. Russia then occupied and annexed Crimea, and in August 2014 Russia's military invaded eastern Ukraine to support its separatist proxies. Because of this, in December 2014 Ukraine's parliament voted to seek NATO membership, and in 2018 it voted to enshrine this goal in its constitution. NATO condemned Russia's actions and affirmed its support for Ukraine's sovereignty; a few NATO members began helping Ukraine's military of their own accord.

Russian opposition to Ukrainian NATO membership has grown during the Russo-Ukrainian War. In late 2021, there was a massive Russian military buildup around Ukraine. Russia's Foreign Ministry demanded that Ukraine be forbidden from ever joining NATO. NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg replied that the decision was up to Ukraine and NATO's members, adding, "Russia has no right to establish a sphere of influence to try to control their neighbors." Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 after Russia's president, Vladimir Putin, falsely claimed that NATO was using Ukraine to threaten his country. Ukraine applied for NATO membership in September 2022 after Russia proclaimed it had annexed the country's southeast. NATO stated its unwavering support for Ukraine. It established the NATO–Ukraine Council in 2023 and the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine in 2024.

Polls held before 2014 found little support amongst Ukrainians for NATO membership. Public support for NATO membership has risen greatly since 2022.