Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked his Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdoğan for his remarks on Kyiv's NATO membership bid.
"He (Erdoğan) said today that he really sees Ukraine moving closer to membership in the Alliance. This means a lot. I thank you!" Zelensky said in a video address on Telegram late Wednesday on his way back to Ukraine from the NATO summit in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius.
Zelensky also thanked Erdoğan for Türkiye's principled defense of security in the Black Sea, saying Türkiye is doing "historic things for all of us."
Assessing the results of the NATO summit, Zelensky said that Ukraine has formed a security foundation on its way to NATO membership for the first time since the country's independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Ukrainian president said he and his delegation are returning from the NATO summit with "a good reinforcement with weapons," including air defense, missiles, armored vehicles and artillery, adding that the security guarantees they have received are concrete ones confirmed by G-7 countries.
"Never before have we had such a security foundation, and this is the level of the G-7. On this foundation, we will build a new, legally binding architecture of bilateral security treaties with the most powerful countries," Zelensky said.
He further said that they have eliminated "any doubts or ambiguities" concerning whether Ukraine will be in NATO, stating not only do all NATO countries agree on this, but that the significant majority of the Western military alliance is pushing for it.
"Never before have the words 'you are equal among equals' for Ukraine from other NATO members sounded truly meaningful. Now everyone understands that this is a fact. Equal among equals. And we will definitely reaffirm this fact with our victory. And with our accession to NATO," Zelensky said.
"Previously, Russia's rulers wanted to have their own fence in front of NATO's door. We have left this Russian ambition on the margins of European history - behind the fence of our unity in Europe and, more broadly, in the free world," he added.
He also thanked other NATO members for their positions and military support for Ukraine.
