"Of course you can never be 100% certain, especially since he is a president in a country which is in the midst of the war, but I look forward to welcoming him, I have talked with him several times and [was] pleased to welcome him to what will be the first inaugural meeting of the new NATO-Ukraine Council," Stoltenberg told the Sky News broadcaster.
The report said that Zelensky's decision to attend the summit may hinge on whether he is satisfied with signals from the allies regarding Ukraine's membership in the alliance. However, Stoltenberg said that he was "absolutely" confident that allies would agree on a form of wording about Ukraine's future accession.
In late June, the deputy head of Zelensky's office, Ihor Zhovkva, told Reuters that the president would not attend July's NATO Summit in Lithuania's capital Vilnius if the leaders of the alliance's member states fail to show "courage" to invite Ukraine to join the bloc.
The Lithuanian capital city of Vilnius will host the NATO summit from July 11-12. Discussions on Ukraine's NATO prospects, strengthening the alliance's eastern flank and defense spending are expected to be on top of the summit's agenda. On June 19, Stoltenberg said that the summit would not discuss a formal invitation, but rather ways to "move Ukraine closer to NATO."