Russia has warned that it is now 'preparing for war' after US President Donald Trump announced that he would be withdrawing from the nuclear missile treaty this week.

Senior Russian arms control official Andrei Belousov has made this announcement after Russia lost a vote at the UN to gather support from the other nations for the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Reduction Treaty,

"Here recently at the meeting, the United States said that Russia is preparing for war," Belusov said after the vote.

"Yes, Russia is preparing for war, I have confirmed it," The Daily Mail reports.

"We are preparing to defend our homeland, our territorial integrity, our principles, our values, our people - we are preparing for such a war."


Belusov has defended his statement saying that Russia's actions were a result of Trump's decision over the treaty.

He said: "Linguistically, this difference is in just one word, both in Russian and in English; Russia is preparing for war, and the US is preparing a war.

"Otherwise, why would the United States withdraw from the treaty, build up its nuclear potential and adopt a new nuclear doctrine?"

The ballot that took place on Friday found 31 countries in favor of supporting the treaty, 55 against and 54 abstaining.

He went on to say that he didn't understand the results saying that most of the countries "are active supporters of nuclear disarmament."

He added that a significant number of those who voted against the treaty are in favor of preserving the INF treaty.

He went on to say that Russia: "tried to send a serious signal to U.S. political circles about the danger of the course chosen by the current (U.S.) administration.


"We thought that such an initiative would be supported by all sensible forces."

Trump has said that Russia had violated the 1987 INF treaty, which eliminated all ground-launched cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500-5,500 kilometers (300-3,400 miles).

Speaking at a rally in Nevada Trump said: "Russia has not, unfortunately, honoured the agreement so we're going to terminate the agreement and we're going to pull out.

"We're not going to let them violate a nuclear agreement and go out and do weapons and we're not allowed to.