The Russian president attacked his White House counterpart after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced the US was withdrawing from the landmark agreement. Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan signed the 1987 treaty, which kept intermediate-range missiles out of Europe. Mr Putin said: “Our American partners have announced they are suspending their participation in the deal, and we are also suspending our participation.
“We will wait until our partners have matured enough to conduct an equal, meaningful dialogue with us on this important topic.”
Mr Putin spoke along with foreign and defence ministers Sergei Lavrov and Sergei Shoigu.
He vowed Moscow would scrap disarmament talks with the US and will ramp up preparations for new missiles.
Supersonic missiles would be among the new arsenal of weapons, Mr Putin warned, although he promised “not be drawn into a costly new arms race”.
Mr Lavrov again accused Washington of violating the treaty themselves for years.
Last month, he claimed the US is bolstering its cache of deadly medium and short-range missiles in defiance of the treaty.
Mr Putin said Russia would now develop medium-range missiles in response to the US.
It comes after Mr Pompeo threatened America would “terminate” the Cold War treaty by Saturday if Russia did not comply.
Speaking on Friday, Mr Pompeo said: “For years Russia has violated the terms of the intermediate range nuclear forces treaty without remorse.
“Russia has refused to take any steps to return real and verifiable compliance over these 60 days.
“The United States will therefore suspend its obligations under the INF treaty effective February 2nd.”
Moscow is adamant it does not violate the agreement, and has offered to give a briefing on its weapons system to journalists and foreign military attaches.
But in the past, Putin has threatened to develop nuclear missiles banned under the INF treaty if it is scrapped.
European leaders fear ripping up the treaty could escalate worldwide tension with the US set to leave in August.
