Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has continued to try and build support for Kyiv's invitation to join NATO ahead of the military alliance's summit next week, holding talks with Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala early on July 7 before he flies to Istanbul to meet Turkish leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan later in the day.

Speaking after a meeting with Zelenskiy, Fiala said Ukraine's future lies in the European Union and NATO while pledging further support -- including military helicopters -- for Kyiv as it battles to repel Russian troops who launched a full-scale invasion almost 500 days ago.

"Ukraine is also fighting for us, for the security of the whole of Europe," Fiala said.

"We don't know when the war will end, but what we do know now is that we need to open the door to the European Union, to the North Atlantic Alliance, to the brave Ukrainian people," he added.

For his part, Zelenskiy said in Prague that Kyiv needed to make sure it was ready to start accession talks with European structures, while also noting that it needs long-range weapons to fight the Russian forces that have attacked his country.

"Without long-range weapons, it is difficult not only to carry out an offensive mission but also to conduct a defensive operation," he told a joint press conference with Fiala.

While many Western allies, including the United States and NATO, have been quick to pledge their full support for Ukraine for as long as it takes to win the battle against Russia, some division has been voiced on the speed at which Ukraine can be taken in to the EU and NATO, since it would move them even closer to the precipice of war with Russia.

Zelenskiy already visited Bulgaria on this trip, where he received assurances of support from Prime Minister Nikolay Denkov and signed a declaration on Ukraine's integration into Western organizations, namely NATO and the EU.

After Prague, he also made a stop in Bratislava, where he is due to hold talks with his Slovak counterpart, Suzana Caputova.

The talks in Istanbul are expected to focus on next week’s NATO summit, as well as a deal to ship Ukrainian grain across the Black Sea that will expire on July 17.

Russia has so far not agreed to a renewal of the deal under which Ukraine has been allowed to ship grain to global markets, despite the war. Moscow has said it sees no grounds to renew the agreement beyond July 17 because of obstacles to its own exports of grain and fertilizers.

Turkey, which brokered the deal last year, has called for its extension.

Speaking on July 5, Rebeca Grynspan, the head of the UN's trade and development agency, UNCTAD, said the UN is worried about the survival of the grain export deal, saying it could threaten food security for developing countries.

Zelenskiy’s tour continued as his country’s military reported 30 combat clashes in the east over the past 24 hours.

Separately, Ukrainian authorities said the number of dead after a Russian attack on the western city of Lviv that destroyed a residential apartment block has risen to 10 after a woman was found dead under the rubble. Forty-five people, including three children, were injured in the strike, which is being describing as the “heaviest attack” on the city’s civilian areas since Russia's full-scale invasion last year.

City officials declared two days of mourning in honor of the victims.

Meanwhile, the British Defense Ministry said in an update on the situation in Ukraine that the Russian Navy had established a new Azov Naval District, headquartered in the occupied Ukrainian port city of Mariupol.

“The Azov Sea is a vital maritime area for Russia because it links its inland waterways to international maritime routes. In the context of the war, it also offers an alternative military resupply option should Russia’s over-land routes to southern Ukraine be disrupted,” the British Defense Ministry noted in its update on July 7.

It added that the Azov Naval District will likely focus on supporting logistical and counter-partisan tasks, freeing up the main Black Sea Fleet (BSF) to concentrate on long-range strike operations and projecting maritime power further abroad.

Source: Radio Free Europe/ Radio Liberty