Zelenskyy arrives in Vilnius for NATO summit: first details

On 11 July, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Vilnius for the NATO Summit. He flew to the Lithuanian capital on a Polish state plane that took off from Rzeszow.

Presidential spokesman Serhiy Nikiforov confirmed Zelenskyy's arrival at the summit, Suspilne reports. The head of state went to the square where the flag of Ukraine is to be raised. It is noted that Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov arrived in Lithuania with him.

The plane with Zelenskyy landed at around 15:45, and his speech is expected at 18:00 Kyiv time, Ukrainian media reports.

Official talks with the leaders of the United States, Canada, Germany, and France are scheduled for tomorrow. On 12 July, Zelenskyy will also attend the first meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council.

This is the first visit of the Ukrainian president to Vilnius since the start of the large-scale invasion. From the current NATO summit, Kyiv expects concrete decisions on the Euro-Atlantic integration of the Ukrainian state, as well as guarantees of continued military support.

Earlier, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at a briefing that the Ukrainian president would attend the NATO summit on Tuesday evening.

Stoltenberg also said that a conciliation meeting with Zelenskyy is scheduled for Wednesday, 12 July.

The allies will discuss a plan for increased military readiness and financial support, the secretary general said.

As reported by OBOZREVATEL:

- On 10 July, Zelenskyy said that all NATO countries understand that Ukraine should be in the Alliance. According to him, the summit in Vilnius is now unthinkable without Ukraine.

- The NATO summit started in Vilnius on 11 July and will last two days. All the details of the meeting are in our article.

- The day before, it became known that Zelenskyy would arrive in Vilnius to meet with the leaders of the military alliance. According to media reports, he will hold talks with the presidents of the United States and Turkey.

- US National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan said Joe Biden was expecting to meet Zelenskyy in person at the summit.

- The Cabinet of Ministers earlier said that Zelenskyy's participation in the Vilnius summit depends on the final documents that will be proposed for adoption following the meeting.

- The President's Office ruled out Zelenskyy's visit to Vilnius if NATO leaders show a "lack of courage". The Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said that extending an invitation to NATO to Ukraine is already in the interests of the allies.

- Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda proposed establishing NATO bases near the Russian border to deter aggression. In his opinion, Ukraine should become a member of the Alliance and the summit's decisions "will not disappoint Ukrainians".

- 10 July Turkey agrees to Sweden's accession to NATO. President Recep Tayyip Erdogan will send the relevant protocol to parliament as soon as possible.

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