"Since the morning I have continued the telephone marathon for a positive decision on the candidacy of Ukraine. I spoke with 11 leaders on Wednesday. I thanked Bulgarian Prime Minister Petkov for his support for Ukraine and for the development of the whole of Europe with our participation," Zelensky said.

Speaking to the AP, Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna, who is in charge of European integration, said the Netherlands, Sweden and Denmark did not agree to start pre-accession talks with Ukraine while defending itself against the Russian aggression, but they now support the idea.

On the 120th day of the war, Russia threw all its forces to capture Severodonetsk and Lisichansk and resume the offensive from Izyum to Slavyansk. At the same time, Ukrainian forces are already 7 km away from the city of Kherson and again successfully attacked from the air the Russian facilities on the key Snake Island (Zmiinyi Island) in the Black Sea, UNIAN reports.