President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says he knows it will be "impossible" for Ukraine to join the NATO military alliance while Russia is waging war on his country.
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Zelenskiy has pressed for Ukrainian membership of the pact but allies are divided over how fast that should happen.
NATO member countries are wary of any move that might take the alliance closer to war with Russia.
In a joint briefing in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv with Estonian President Alar Karis, he said joining the alliance was still the best security guarantee for Ukraine.
"But we are adequate people and understand that we will not pull any NATO country into a war," Zelenskiy said.
"And that's why we understand that we won't be a member of NATO while this war is ongoing. Not because we don't want to, because it's impossible."
Meanwhile, the governor of Russia's Belgorod region said that two people were killed and four others injured on Friday after Ukraine shelled a town near the border as officials in nearby regions reported overnight drone attacks.
Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov wrote on Telegram that shelling had struck a section of road in the town of Maslova Pristan, 15km from Ukraine's northern Kharkiv region, and that shell fragments had struck passing cars.
"Two women were travelling in one of them. They died from their injuries on the spot," he said.
In another message posted later on Friday, Gladkov said two more people had been injured and an industrial facility had caught fire after shelling in the town of Shebekino.
Shebekino also suffered heavy bombardment on Thursday as well as a cross-border incursion, Russian officials said.
Gladkov said more than 2500 people were being relocated from the Shebekino area.
The governor of the Bryansk region, north of Belgorod, said four homes had been damaged by shelling, while the head of neighbouring Kursk region said some buildings had been damaged in an overnight drone attack.
Long-range drones also hit two towns in the Smolensk region overnight, the local governor there said, while the head of Russia's Kaluga region said a blast had been reported in a forest.
Reuters could not independently verify the reported attacks.
Russian officials have in recent days reported intensified attacks from northern Ukraine.
The Defence Ministry said its forces had repelled on Thursday three cross-border attacks by what it said were Ukrainian "terrorist formations" into the Belgorod region.
Ukraine denies its military is involved in the incursions and says they are conducted by Russian volunteer fighters.
Ukrainian authorities on Friday lifted air raid alerts across most of the country and officials in the capital Kyiv said defences appeared to have shot down more than 30 missiles and drones fired by Russia.
Russia has launched about 20 separate missile and drone strikes against Ukrainian cities since the start of May.
Moscow denies targeting civilians or committing war crimes but its forces have devastated Ukrainian cities and repeatedly hit residential areas during its 15-month "special military operation" which it says aims to safeguard Russian security.
Ukraine and its allies accuse Russia of barbaric tactics and an imperialist-style land grab.
The war has killed tens of thousands and sent millions fleeing abroad.
Australian Associated Press
