The United States is researching the development of a ground-based cruise missile, banned by a Cold War-era treaty, because it believes Russia has already violated the agreement, it was reported on Thursday.

The aim of developing the banned weapon is to force Russia to comply with the arms control agreement, unnamed US officials told the Wall Street Journal.

The US believes that Russia has already deployed a banned cruise missile that threatens US and Nato facilities in Europe.

By developing its own missile, the US hopes to demonstrate to Russia its military prowess and to force Moscow to back-down.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INV) was signed by President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev, the leader of the Soviet Union, at the White House in 1987, coming into effect the following year. It was a crucial step in the process of ending the Cold War.

The treaty banned all short and intermediate-range ground-launched ballistic and cruise missiles with ranges of between 500–5,500 kilometres (310-3,420 miles). Sea-launched missiles were excluded from the agreement.