Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said Ukraine deserves NATO membership.

"Ukraine deserves NATO membership. And I want to reiterate one point in your presence: when a just peace comes, no one will lose," he said at a press conference in Istanbul on the night of Friday to Saturday following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"The Ukrainian people on the 500th day of the war, which we will soon meet, boldly defends the territorial integrity and independence of the country. From the very moment when the danger of a clash began to appear, we made every possible effort to prevent a war. And starting from the days, when the tension turned to heated clashes, we declared our rejection of this unjust war, which is contrary to international law," Erdoğan said.

"From the annexation, contrary to the international law of Crimea, to this day, we declare on all platforms about our support for the territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence of Ukraine," he said.

According to him, Turkey "provides any support for Ukraine to get back on its feet. Our construction companies, which are leaders in this market in Ukraine, will help our Ukrainian friends in restoring the country."

"Also, one of the important reasons why we look with confidence to the future of Ukraine is that the Crimean Tatars are stubbornly fighting for the freedom of their country," he said.