NATO pledged support for Ukraine at talks in Brussels on Tuesday following Russia’s attempt to “intimidate” Kiev’s supporters by firing an experimental hypersonic medium-range missile last week.
Russia attacked the Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Thursday in what President Vladimir Putin said was a test of its new Oreshnik missile.
Putin said the missile attack was in response to Ukraine’s firing of weapons supplied to Russia by the United States and Britain.
The Kremlin leader warned that Moscow feels “entitled” to attack military facilities in countries that allow Ukraine to use its weapons against Russia.
“During the meeting, NATO allies reaffirmed their support for Ukraine,” the alliance said in a statement after the talks.
“The attack, which targeted Dnipro, is seen as a further attempt by Russia to terrorize the civilian population in Ukraine and intimidate those who support Ukraine as a counterweight to Russia’s illegal and unprovoked aggression.” defends.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called the attack “the latest bout of Russian madness” and appealed for updated air-defense systems to deal with the new threat.
Kiev called for a NATO-Ukraine Council meeting and called for “concrete and meaningful results.”
Ukraine has identified air defense systems it needs to try to counter a new missile threat from Moscow ahead of the alliance’s foreign ministers gathering in Brussels next week, a NATO official said.
Some allies indicated they could make an announcement on fresh air defenses for Kiev at a meeting next week, the official said.
Tensions over Ukraine are rising as questions are raised over the future of Western support for the United States following Donald Trump’s re-election to the main NATO power.
Moscow on Tuesday promised to “retaliate” for fresh Ukrainian air strikes inside Russia using US-supplied ATACMS missiles.
In a rare admission, Russia said the latest attacks had damaged military hardware and injured some of its personnel on the ground in the Kursk region.
Trump has cast doubt on maintaining Washington’s massive military aid to Kiev and has promised a quick deal to end the war.
On the battlefield, Ukraine’s exhausted soldiers are struggling to stop the advance of Russian forces in the country’s east.
NATO and Ukraine established a joint council in 2023 that allows Kiev to call meetings with the alliance as it deems appropriate.
(This story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
