Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his Turkish counterpart, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, for his statements regarding Kiev’s request to join NATO.
This came in a video speech Zelensky posted on the Telegram app late Wednesday, on his way back to Ukraine from the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius.
The Ukrainian president added, “President Erdogan said today that he really sees that Ukraine is approaching membership in the alliance. This means a lot.. Thank you!”
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Zelensky also thanked his counterpart Erdogan for “Turkey’s defense of security in the Black Sea” and said that “Turkey is doing historic actions for all of us.”
In his evaluation of the results of the NATO summit, Zelensky said that his country formed “a security basis on its way to NATO membership for the first time since the country’s independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.”
The Ukrainian president noted that he and his accompanying delegation would return from the NATO summit with “good reinforcements with weapons,” including air defense, missiles, armored vehicles, and artillery.
He added that the security guarantees they received are “tangible guarantees” confirmed by the G7, stressing that “we have never had such a security basis”.
and also explained that NATO leaders removed “any doubts or ambiguities” about Ukraine’s accession to the alliance.
He pointed out that “not only all NATO countries agree to this step, but the vast majority of the Western military alliance is pressing for it.”
The Ukrainian president described NATO’s consideration during yesterday’s summit of Ukraine as “a country equal to other member states” as an “unprecedented step, and of real significance.”
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He added, “Now everyone understands that this is a fact, and we will confirm this through our victory in the war and our accession to NATO.” Zelensky concluded his speech by thanking NATO members for their positions and military support for Ukraine.
On July 11-12, the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, hosted the meeting, which was held at the level of heads of state and government of the NATO summit.
The meeting was attended by 31 leaders of NATO member states, in addition to President Zelensky, and Turkey was represented by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
