Vladimir Putin has scrapped a key nuclear control agreement over the “unfriendly” actions of the United States towards Russia.

In an extraordinary series of ultimatums issued on Monday, the Kremlin said it would suspend an agreement to turn weapons-grade plutonium into nuclear fuel unless Washington cancel all sanctions and slash its military commitment to Nato allies.

In a presidential decree published on Monday, Mr Putin froze The Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement (PDMA) because of “a drastic change in circumstances, the appearance of a threat to strategic stability due to unfriendly actions of the United States toward Russia".

The document claimed that Washington was "unable" to meet its obligations under the terms of the agreement and that Moscow "must take urgent measures to defend Russian security".

A draft law later published on the site of the lower house of the Russian parliament said Russia would only reinstate the deal if the US drops all sanctions, pays compensation for the damage they have caused, and reduces its military infrastructure and man power in Nato countries that joined the alliance after 2000 to the same levels as when the deal was signed.