Ambassadors from Ukraine and NATO’s 32 member states convened in Brussels on Tuesday to address the recent Russian missile strike on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, which used a new experimental hypersonic missile. Russian President Vladimir Putin confirmed that the strike, which targeted Dnipro last Thursday, was a test of the newly developed Oreshnik missile. Putin stated that the attack was in retaliation for Ukraine’s use of US and UK-supplied weapons and warned that Russia could target military facilities in countries supporting Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky condemned the strike as “the latest bout of Russian madness” and called for updated air-defense systems to counter the new missile threat. Kyiv has expressed hopes for “concrete and meaningful outcomes” from the NATO-Ukraine Council meeting, but NATO diplomats have tempered expectations, focusing on reaffirming support for Ukraine. The alliance is expected to reiterate that Russia’s missile deployments will not deter NATO members from supporting Ukraine.
