U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper said on Saturday that he was in favor of placing ground-launched, intermediate-range missiles in Asia relatively soon, a day after the United States withdrew from a landmark arms control treaty.

"Yeah, I would like to," Esper said, when asked whether he was considering placing such missiles in Asia.

"I would prefer (in) months ... but these things tend to take longer than you expect," he told reporters travelling with him to Sydney when asked about a timeline for when the missiles could be deployed.

The United States formally left the intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) with Russia on Friday after determining Moscow was violating the treaty, an accusation that the Kremlin has denied.