MOSCOW, November 25. /TASS/. The recent televised address by President Vladimir Putin following the use of Russia’s latest Oreshnik missile sent a signal to the West that Moscow can find military answers to new challenges, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov said in a comment for Izvestia.

"That primarily was a signal that we are determined to respond to provocations and escalatory steps by the Western sponsors of the Kiev regime in such a way that they understand how serious the moment is and that we can find military responses to the latest challenges," the senior Russian diplomat said, commenting on Putin’s statement.

In this context, Ryabkov stressed, Russia has its underlying security interests "that will be ensured by every means that we have at our disposal.".

In his televised address to the nation on November 21, Putin said that the United States and its NATO allies had authorized the use of long-range high-precision weapons before US and British missiles attacked Russian military facilities in the bordering regions of Kursk and Bryansk. According to him, Russia responded to these attacks by launching its latest Oreshnik hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile with a non-nuclear payload at a Ukrainian defense plant, Yuzhmash, in Dnepropetrovsk. The West’s provocative policy course can lead to major consequences in the event of further escalation, the Russian leader warned.