The Kremlin said on Friday that a strike on Ukraine using a newly developed hypersonic ballistic missile was designed to warn the west that Moscow will respond to moves by the US and the UK to let Kyiv strike Russia with their missiles.

According to Agence France-Presse (AFP), the Kremlin spokesperson, Dmitry Peskov, was speaking a day after Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Moscow had fired the new missile – the Oreshnik or ‘hazel tree’- at a Ukrainian military facility.

Peskov said Russia had not been obliged to warn the US about the strike, but had informed the US 30 minutes before the launch anyway. Putin remained open to dialogue, Peskov said.