German Chancellor Olaf Scholz rejected Ukraine's immediate NATO membership request presented by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

"It is important to realize that a country at war absolutely cannot become a member of NATO," Scholz told German public broadcaster ZDF. "Everyone knows that, there is no disagreement on this subject."

Last week, Zelenskyy urged European leaders to immediately invite Ukraine to join NATO as part of his "victory plan" to end the war by 2025.

Scholz, however, said, "an invitation is normally quite quickly linked to membership."