The organisation’s Article 5 foresee that an attack on a single member could lead to a response by the whole alliance.
During the address, Putin confirmed Russia had launched a hypersonic medium-range ballistic missile attack on a Ukrainian facility.
He said: “So Russia had conducted combat tests of the ‘Oreshnik’ hypersonic missile system in response to the aggressive actions of NATO countries against Russia.
“In response to the use of American and British long-range weapons on 21 November of this year, the Russian armed forces launched a combined strike on one of the facilities of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine.
“In combat conditions, one of the newest Russian medium-range missile systems was tested, among other things. In this case, with a ballistic missile in a nuclear-free hypersonic equipment.”
Despite issuing the major threat to the West, Putin claimed the use of long-range missiles into Russia by Ukraine would not change the outcome of the war in Ukraine – or “special operation”, as the Kremlin continues to call the unlawful invasion of the eastern European country.
Moscow, he added, would “respond symmetrically” to any “escalation”.
