President Donald Trump last night announced the US withdrawal from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty, blaming Russian violations.

Mr Trump said he was leaving the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty because he was not prepared to let Russia 'do weapons and we're not allowed to'.

The 1987 pact bans the US and Russia from possessing, producing or testing ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles.

President Donald Trump, above, last night announced the US withdrawal from a landmark nuclear weapons treaty. He said America needs to 'get smart' as Russia has been violating the treaty for years

Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev, left, and US President Ronald Reagan, right, signed the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty in the White House in December 1987

But Mr Trump said: 'Russia has violated the agreement. They have been violating it for many years.'

The US has accused Russia of creating a new medium-range missile called the Novator 9M729 which would allow it to strike Nato countries at short notice.

The Russians deny it breaches the 1987 deal, but Mr Trump last night said that unless Russia and China – which is not currently party to the pact – agree to neither possess nor develop such weapons, America will begin building them itself. '

We'll have to develop those weapons, unless Russia comes to us and China comes to us and they all come to us and say, 'Let's really get smart and let's none of us develop those weapons,' ' he said.

'But if Russia's doing it and if China's doing it, and we're adhering to the agreement, that's unacceptable.'

Mr Trump, who questioned why his predecessor Barack Obama had not withdrawn from the treaty or negotiated its terms while in the White House, did, however, hold out some hope of avoiding America's withdrawal.

The pact was historic for the U.S and Russia, the former Soviet Union, above, when it was signed. The 1987 pact banned the US and the Soviet Union from possessing, producing or testing ground-launched cruise missiles with a range of 300 to 3,400 miles

'If they [Russia and China] get smart and if others get smart and they say, 'Let's not develop these horrible nuclear weapons,' I would be extremely happy with that. But as long as somebody's violating the agreement, we're not going to be the only ones to adhere to it,' he said.

His announcement came as US National Security Adviser John Bolton headed to Moscow for talks with senior Russian officials.