The United States has formally withdrawn from a landmark nuclear missile pact with Russia saying Moscow was in violation of the treaty, something the Kremlin has repeatedly denied.

Key points: The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed in 1987

The Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed in 1987 It banned land-based missiles with a range of between 500-5,500 kilometres

It banned land-based missiles with a range of between 500-5,500 kilometres US officials say Russia has deployed multiple cruise missiles in violation of the pact

The 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) was negotiated by then-US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

It banned land-based missiles with a range of between 500-5,500 kilometres, thus reducing both countries' abilities to launch a nuclear strike at short notice.

Washington signalled it would pull out of the arms control treaty six months ago unless Moscow stuck to the accord.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the official US withdrawal from the deal via a tweet on Friday.

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Russia called the move a ploy to exit a pact the United States wanted to leave anyway in order to develop new missiles.

"The United States will not remain party to a treaty that is deliberately violated by Russia," Mr Pompeo said in a statement about the US withdrawal.

Ronald Reagan and Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces treaty in 1987. ( Dennis Paquin: Reuters )

"Russia's non-compliance under the treaty jeopardises US supreme interests as Russia's development and fielding of a treaty-violating missile system represents a direct threat to the United States and our allies and partners," Mr Pompeo said.

Senior administration officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said Russia had deployed "multiple battalions" of a cruise missile throughout Russia in violation of the pact, including in western Russia, "with the ability to strike critical European targets".

Russia denies the allegation, saying the missile's range puts it outside the treaty. It has rejected a US demand to destroy the new missile, the Novator 9M729, known as the SSC-8 by the NATO Western military alliance.

US officials said the United States was months away from the first flight tests of an American intermediate-range missile that would serve as a counter to the Russians.

The US military plans to test a ground-launched cruise missile in the coming weeks and an intermediate-range ballistic missile in November, both of which would have been banned under the treaty.

Russia has rejected a US demand to destroy the Novator 9M729 land-based cruise missile. ( AP: Pavel Golovkin )

'A serious mistake has been made in Washington'

Moscow has told Washington its decision to quit the pact undermines global security and removes a key pillar of international arms control.

Russia said on Friday it had asked the United States for a moratorium on the deployment of land-based short and intermediate-range nuclear missiles.

"A serious mistake has been made in Washington," Russia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.

"We have already introduced a unilateral moratorium and won't deploy land-based short or medium-range missiles, if we get them, in regions where such US missiles are not deployed," it said.

President Vladimir Putin says Russia does not want an arms race and he has promised he will not deploy Russian missiles unless the United States does so first.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg dismissed Russia's moratorium request on Friday, saying it was "not a credible offer" as he said Moscow had already deployed illegal missiles.

The dispute is aggravating the worst US-Russia friction since the Cold War ended in 1991. ( Reuters: Ria Novosti )

"There are no new US missiles, no new NATO missiles in Europe, but there are more and more new Russian missiles," he said.

The dispute is aggravating the worst US-Russia friction since the Cold War ended in 1991.

Some experts believe the treaty's collapse could undermine other arms control agreements and speed an erosion of the global system designed to block the spread of nuclear arms.

ABC/wires