The Kremlin has said that Russia will be forced to respond in kind if the United States began developing new missiles after quitting a landmark Cold War-era treaty.

Key points: The 1987 bilateral treaty required the elimination of short-and-medium-range missiles by both countries

The 1987 bilateral treaty required the elimination of short-and-medium-range missiles by both countries The treaty's demise would raise the possibility of a spiralling arms race

The treaty's demise would raise the possibility of a spiralling arms race US national security adviser John Bolton denied the US is using INF threat to blackmail Russia

President Donald Trump said that Washington would withdraw from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) because Russia was violating the pact, triggering a warning of retaliatory measures from Moscow.

The treaty, signed by former US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, required the elimination of short-and-intermediate-range nuclear and conventional missiles by both countries.

Its demise would raise the possibility of a spiralling arms race.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters the US move would make the world a more dangerous place and said Russia would be forced to act to restore the balance of military power if Washington quit the pact and started developing new missiles.

"This is a question of strategic security. Such measures can make the world more dangerous," Mr Peskov said of the planned US withdrawal.

Mr Gorbachev (left) and Mr Reagan signed the INF treaty at the White House in 1987. ( Reuters: Dennis Paquin )

According to Mr Peskov, President Vladimir Putin had repeatedly said that the demise of the treaty would force Russia to take specific steps to protect its own security.

"It means that the United States is not disguising, but is openly starting to develop these systems in the future, and if these systems are being developed, then actions are necessary from other countries, in this case Russia, to restore balance in this sphere," Mr Peskov said.

Mr Peskov said Mr Trump's decision to quit the pact would obviously be a subject for discussion and that Moscow was looking for a detailed explanation for why Washington had decided to turn its back on the treaty.

Mr Trump's national security adviser John Bolton tried to talk through the issues in Moscow with Nikolai Patrushev, the Secretary of Russia's Security Council, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.

In comments released after his meetings, Mr Bolton denied Russian allegations the United States was using the threat of treaty withdrawal to blackmail Russia.

Washington had not yet taken any decision on deploying missiles in Europe targeting Moscow in the event that the INF treaty is scrapped, Russia's RIA news agency quoted him as saying.

Mr Bolton said Russia was violating its commitments under the pact, an allegation Moscow has denied.

Sorry, this video has expired US President Donald Trump to withdraw from Nuclear Weapons Treaty

In any case, he added, a bilateral treaty no longer met today's realities because unlike in the Cold War, multiple states are now developing intermediate range nuclear missiles.

Those states, he said, include China and North Korea.

"The next step is consultations with our friends in Europe and Asia," Mr Bolton was quoted as telling Ekho Moskvy radio station, adding that consultations with Russia would continue.

Russia's Security Council said Mr Patrushev had emphasised Moscow's view that the INF treaty should be retained, and tearing it up would undermine international arms control.

"The Russian side … confirmed their readiness to work jointly in the interests of removing mutual grievances about the implementation of the agreement," it said in a statement.

Reuters