Russia will abandon nuclear arms treaty: Putin

Moscow: Russia will abandon a centrepiece nuclear arms treaty, following in the footsteps of the United States, but will only deploy intermediate-range nuclear missiles if Washington does so, President Vladimir Putin said Saturday.

Speaking Saturday in televised meeting with his foreign and defense ministers, Putin instructed the military to work on developing new land-based weapons that were previously banned by the pact.

Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu reported to Putin that they will include a land-based version of the Kalibr ship-based cruise missile and a new hypersonic intermediate-range ballistic missile.

Putin instructed the military to make sure the research and development works on new weapons don't swell the military budget.

He also emphasised that Russia will not deploy such new weapons unless the US does so.

US President Donald Trump accused Moscow Friday of violating the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty with "impunity" by deploying banned missiles.

Trump said in a statement that the US will "move forward" with developing its own military response options to Russia's banned deployment of cruise missiles that could target western Europe.

Moscow has strongly denied any breaches and accused Washington of making false accusations in order to justify its pullout that stoked fears of a new arms race.