Vladimir Putin has said Moscow will develop new mid-range nuclear weapons in response to Donald Trump's planned withdrawal from a key arms control treaty with Russia.

The statement came after secretary of state Mike Pompeo said on Tuesday that the United States would no longer abide by the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty if Russia did not come into compliance within 60 days.

Mr Putin insisted that he was “against the destruction of this treaty,” but agreed with Mr Trump's complaint that it ties the hands of the two Cold War foes while other countries can develop short- and intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

“Now our American partners apparently think the situation has changed so much that the United States also needs to have this kind of weapon. What will our response be? It's simple. We will also do this,” he said.

In fact, Moscow is already doing this, if Washington is to be believed. Barack Obama's administration first accused the Kremlin of breaking the treaty in 2014 by secretly developing a ground-launched nuclear-capable cruise missile dubbed the SSC-8, which could threaten US bases and allies in Europe.

Russia has denied this and accused the United States of testing banned missiles and drones.