Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called for his country to join NATO ahead of its annual summit, arguing that excluding a nation with such robust defenses would be a mistake.
Speaking at NATO's defence industry forum, Zelenskyy questioned whether it would be right to leave outside the alliance a country and people with such a high level of defensive capability.
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He emphasized that Ukraine now manufactures nearly all necessary weaponry and that its capabilities should become part of NATO's collective defence, making the alliance stronger.
Ukraine is now in its fifth year of repelling the Russian invasion, with Russia's advance slowing significantly while Kyiv targets economic infrastructure deep inside Russia.
A senior NATO official noted that Russian troops advanced by an average of 3.79 square kilometers per day in June, a 75 percent reduction compared to the previous year, despite sustaining 30,000 to 35,000 casualties each month.
Zelenskyy is scheduled to attend a leaders' dinner in Ankara and will hold a bilateral meeting with Donald Trump.
Trump, who communicated with both Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin, expressed optimism about renewed US mediation efforts to resolve the war.
Zelenskyy highlighted how the conflict has modernized Ukraine's domestic industrial infrastructure, citing a recent drone strike on an oil refinery in Omsk, Siberia, located 1,680 miles from the border.
He stated that Ukraine has eliminated the idea of Russia having a strategic rear, as Moscow previously relied on its geographic size to shield military-industrial production.
