President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky called "powerful" the joint statement of nine NATO countries that supported Ukraine's entry into the Alliance.

"We have a powerful joint statement today from the leaders of nine NATO states: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania and Slovakia," he said.

"They condemned the Russian escalation steps and, very importantly, supported our aspiration to become a full member of NATO. We are moving in this direction. I am sure that we will implement this project of ours," Zelensky stressed.