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Türkiye supports Ukraine's NATO membership, Zelensky says

08 July 2023 04:12 (UTC +04:00)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he was "happy to hear" that Türkiye supports Ukraine's bid to join the NATO alliance, APA reports.

Zelensky, who spoke alongside Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan at a joint press conference in Istanbul, said the two leaders discussed "key issues of our work in the context of NATO, in particular preparing for a Vilnius summit."

Ukraine is expected to be at the top of the agenda of that meeting next week.

"I raised the question of Ukraine's membership in the NATO alliance and was happy to hear that the President [Erdoğan] supports Ukraine to be a NATO member," Zelensky said.

Zelensky also said the two leaders talked about "the joint work in the military-industrial complex, development of technologies, drone manufacturing and other strategic directions."

"We made certain agreements," he said. "I asked Türkiye to join into the efforts of rebuilding and transforming Ukraine, it is a colossal project, and we need Türkiye's experience and technology to help us."