Washington - The White House has confirmed that the issue of Ukraine's NATO membership will be discussed at the upcoming NATO summit in Vilnius. However, no decision regarding Ukraine's membership will be made during the summit. White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan described the summit as a "milestone" that would highlight NATO's readiness to accept Ukraine's membership.

Sullivan explained that the summit will address the question of Ukraine's future membership as well as the ongoing partnership between NATO and Ukraine, which has existed for several years. However, he made it clear that Ukraine will not be joining NATO at this particular summit, emphasizing that there are still further steps that Ukraine needs to take to meet NATO's membership requirements.

This announcement follows Turkey's expression of solidarity with Ukraine's NATO membership proposal, as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky held talks with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Zelensky stated that Erdogan supports Ukraine's NATO membership and that they had reached agreements on cooperation in rebuilding and transforming Ukraine.

During their discussions, Zelensky and Erdogan also stressed the importance of ensuring the Black Sea region remains an area of safety and cooperation, rather than being plagued by frozen conflicts or potential crises.

President Zelensky will attend the two-day conference in Lithuania and propose that Ukraine should join NATO once the war with Russia comes to an end.

Sullivan also mentioned that the White House expects Sweden's NATO membership to gain final approval in the near future. He expressed optimism that Turkey and Hungary may withdraw their opposition to Sweden's membership during the summit. If not, Sullivan believes that Sweden's membership will happen in the not-too-distant future, as there is goodwill within the alliance towards Sweden's bid. The United States views a strong NATO as crucial for global security and safety.