Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stated on Thursday that he is in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria, to hold discussions with the country's president and prime minister regarding security issues and the upcoming NATO summit scheduled for next week. Zelensky wrote on the Telegram app: "We will discuss defense support, European-Atlantic integration (for Ukraine), the NATO summit, security guarantees, and the implementation of the peace formula (to end Russia's war on Ukraine)."
Zelensky arrived in the Czech capital, Prague, on Thursday evening as part of a tour to rally support for accelerating his country's NATO membership application before the summit next week. During the summit, which will take place on July 11 and 12 in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, Kyiv aims to receive a clear signal from the alliance that it can gain membership once its war with Russia concludes.
The office of Czech President Peter Pavel stated, "The goal of the Ukrainian president's visit is to express appreciation for the support provided by the Czech Republic to Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian aggression and to seek mutual assurances that this support will continue." It added, "During the meeting, the two leaders are to coordinate their positions ahead of the NATO summit in Vilnius, where security guarantees for Ukraine are expected to be discussed, among other issues."
