LUGANSK, July 8. /TASS/. It is important for Vladimir Zelensky to maintain control over Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the Donetsk People’s Republic during the summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in order to show the West that the Ukrainian army in the special operation zone is "doing fine and stable," military expert Andrey Marochko has stated.

"While the NATO summit is ongoing, Zelensky is trying to somehow convince his Western colleagues that everything is fine and stable with them. The task is to prevent our troops from breaking through at the Slavyansk and Kramatorsk lines," Marochko told TASS.

Earlier, Marochko told TASS that the Ukrainian military command had deployed elite units of the Ukrainian army and foreign mercenaries to the cities to reinforce the defense of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk.

The North Atlantic Alliance summit is taking place in Ankara on July 7-8.