Coalition of countries to support Ukraine's NATO integration being formed – Korniyenko

"Regarding our NATO aspirations. A coalition of countries, which will actively support us and lean toward some serious decisions at the NATO summit in Vilnius, is really being formed," Oleksandr Korniyenko, First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, said during the national news telethon.

He named Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic among these countries.

"Different countries express their support in different ways: some adopt relevant documents, some make decisions in the parliament, some express them at the diplomatic level," added the First Deputy Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada.

He believes that the new NATO member states will also support Ukraine in its aspirations to join the Alliance.

"Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark... They all support us and will support Ukraine in obtaining certain prospects, certain conditions on the path towards NATO, taking into account, of course, the ongoing, unfortunately, full-scale war," Korniyenko noted.

He believes that it is "not very correct" to demand Ukraine's accession to NATO in wartime but now it is necessary to receive a concretely defined further path from the partners.

As reported, the meeting of NATO heads of state and government will take place in Vilnius on July 11-12, 2023.

President Zelensky previously stated that Ukraine was preparing for the NATO summit in Vilnius and waiting for a political invitation to the Alliance.

He also stressed that Ukraine should receive effective security guarantees even before joining NATO.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Dmytro Kuleba believes that NATO should make a political decision that will either determine the timeframe for Ukraine's accession directly at the summit in Vilnius or should present it by the end of 2023.