BERLIN, July 10./TASS/. Germany and the US will try to block Ukraine's official application for NATO membership at the NATO summit set to begin in Vilnius on Tuesday, Germany’s Bild newspaper said on Monday, citing sources.

"I can confirm that the US and Germany will block Ukraine's official application to join NATO," the newspaper quoted a high-ranking source as saying. According to him, both countries want to prevent Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky's appeal to join the Alliance at its summit in Vilnius. Per the source, Berlin and Washington "are pursuing the same goal on this issue" and are putting pressure on other NATO members to follow their example.

According to another source, both countries are lobbying for the signing of "a final declaration which will barely go beyond the agreement signed in Bucharest in 2008" following the summit.

The paper learned in Kiev that Zelensky planned the trip to Vilnius "with the clear goal of setting the mechanism [for joining the alliance] in motion." The Ukrainian president is reportedly "extremely vexed" that he has not yet been allowed to do so, Bild specified.

On Saturday, the Daily Telegraph quoted a NATO source as saying that Germany would advocate delaying Ukraine's accession to NATO over concerns that immediate membership could lead to war with Russia.