I could also be flawed, however i feel Ukraine tried to hitch round 2008, across the identical time time Russia attacked Georgia. On the time, they have been most likely less than NATO customary. I feel they have been nonetheless operating with a soviet-like construction and mentality, the identical one Russia nonetheless use to today.
After the annexation of Crimea, Ukraine forces obtained coaching from NATO forces to alter the best way they function and run like all different NATO international locations, with a extra decentralized chain of command. That coaching was largely held in a army base round Lviv close to the border with Poland. Afterwards, the issue was not as a lot that they have been to not NATO requirements, however the truth that they’d contested areas, specifically Crimea and the Donbass.