President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed hope that the next step of NATO after the relevant Alliance summit in Washington will be the invitation of Ukraine, and after that its membership in NATO.

"I think the next step will be an invitation, and then membership. It is clear that we will not be in NATO until the war is over in Ukraine. But I hope that we will prevail," Zelenskyy said at a press conference with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington.

At the same time, he expressed the opinion that it is time to stop saying that for Ukraine, membership in NATO is a success.

"I think it's success for both of us. We are strengthening NATO. We are strong guys. We have a strong army. And we are fighting against this tyrant Putin. And that's why Ukraine is in NATO, yes, it is a success. But today, when we talk about very specific successes, these are successes that give us the opportunity to live. Patriots, IRIS-T. Therefore, it is important for us to accelerate their appearance in Ukraine. This is success for us today," the President said.

Also, according to Zelenskyy, "we are thinking about really strong steps on the part of very strong people." "And here, when talking about war, one can't even use the word ‘success’ sometimes, because success is not a war in your country, in your life. Success when you don't lose your family is success. And to survive and win this war, it will be a real success for us," he said.