Defence ministers from Germany, France, Poland, Italy and the UK are set to meet in Berlin on Monday to discuss measures to strengthen security and defence in Europe.

Russia’s targeting of Ukraine with a new medium-range missile, thought to have implications for all of Europe, is likely to play a major role during discussions.

Germany’s Boris Pistorius, France’s Sébastien Lecornu, the UK’s John Healey, Poland’s Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz and Italy’s Guido Crosetto are also meeting ahead of the looming presidency of NATO critic Donald Trump.

Trump, set to be inaugurated on January 20, has demanded that Europe invest significantly more money in its own security and is expected to cut military aid to Ukraine.

Following recent approval from Washington, Ukraine has begun using U.S.-made ATACMS missiles and British Storm Shadow cruise missiles to target military sites in Russia.

Russian President Vladimir Putin then ordered its missile attack on the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, which has a population of over a million, with a new medium-range missile on Thursday morning.

He hailed the “Oreshnik” (hazel tree) missile as unique and said it would go into mass production.

Moscow says the rocket flies at hypersonic speed, making it impossible for anti-aircraft systems to intercept it.

Experts assume that the rocket could technically also be equipped with nuclear warheads.

(dpa/NAN)