French President Emmanuel Macron, seen at the White House on April 24, 2018, has emphasized the importance of a Cold War-era arms treaty to U.S. President Donald Trump | Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images Macron tells Trump about importance of arms treaty President Donald Trump said the US would abandon a Cold War-era arms treaty.

French President Emmanuel Macron told Donald Trump about the "importance" of a Cold War-era nuclear treaty that the U.S. president says Washington will withdraw from.

"The President of the Republic underlined the importance of this treaty, especially with regards to European security," Macron’s office said in a statement Monday. In their phone call Sunday, Macron and Trump also discussed the death of journalist Jamal Khashoggi and the situation in Syria, Reuters reported.

Trump confirmed Saturday that the U.S. would abandon the Cold War-era arms treaty, arguing that Russia has defied the terms of the decades-old agreement. The treaty, signed in 1987, restricts U.S. and Russian short- and medium-range nuclear missiles.

"They have been violating it for many years," Trump said, according to a White House readout, referring to Russia's cooperation with the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty.

"We're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to," Trump said.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday said Moscow expects Washington to explain its planned exit from the treaty, according to Reuters.

U.S. National Security Adviser John Bolton was in Moscow on Monday for talks. Bolton is due to meet senior officials during his pre-planned visit but may now meet President Vladimir Putin too, the BBC reported.