Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said late Thursday that Kiev wants “honesty” in its relations with NATO, days before a crucial NATO summit in Lithuania.

“We need honesty in our relations,” Volodymyr Zelensky told reporters in Prague with Czech President Petr Pavel by his side.

It is time to show “the courage and strength of this alliance,” he added.

Zelensky said the Ukrainian counteroffensive was not moving quickly, but that Kiev’s forces were advancing.

“The counterattack is not going fast, that’s a fact,” he admitted. “However, we are advancing, not retreating, like the Russians,” he told reporters. “We now have the initiative,” he said.

For his part, the Czech president said after his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky that Ukraine can count on the further support of the Czech Republic as it defends itself against Russia’s aggression,

Pavel also expressed his support for Ukraine to join NATO and the European Union.

Volodymyr Zelensky arrived in Prague on Thursday night for talks with Czech President Petr Pavel and other officials, according to a video posted on the Ukrainian president’s Facebook page.

In the images, the Ukrainian president, wearing a khaki short-sleeved T-shirt, can be seen shaking hands with Pavel during an official welcoming ceremony.

Zelensky had traveled to Sofia earlier yesterday to discuss his country’s NATO membership and to call for speeding up arms deliveries to Ukraine amid Kiev’s counter-offensive against Russia.

Ukraine’s president had said he was to meet Czech Prime Minister Petr Fiala and the speakers of both houses of parliament for “substantial negotiations” during his two-day stay in Prague.