BRUSSELS, Belgium, Nov 22, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - NATO and Ukraine will hold talks
next week in Brussels over Russia's firing of an experimental hypersonic
intermediate-range missile, diplomats said on Friday.

Ambassadors from countries in the NATO-Ukraine Council will meet on Tuesday
to discuss the strike on the city of Dnipro, officials told AFP.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday Moscow had hit Ukraine
using a new-generation intermediate-range missile -- which he hinted was
capable of unleashing a nuclear payload.

A spokeswoman for NATO said: "Deploying this capability will neither change
the course of the conflict nor deter NATO allies from supporting Ukraine."

Putin said in an address to the nation the missile strike was in response to
Ukraine firing long-range weapons supplied by the United States and Britain
into Russia.

The Kremlin leader also warned that Moscow felt "entitled" to hit military
facilities in countries that allow Ukraine to use their weapons against
Russia.

Ukraine recently fired US- and UK-supplied longer-range missiles at Russian
territory for the first time, ramping up already sky-high tensions over the
conflict, which is nearly in its third year.

Leading NATO power the United States accused Russia of "escalating at every
turn" in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow informed Washington, via an
automatic nuclear de-escalation hotline, that it was launching the hypersonic
missile half an hour before it was fired.