US President Donald Trump has warned that his country plans to strengthen its arsenal of nuclear weapons to pressure Russia and China.
Trump repeated to journalists that he had not complied with the 1987 Treaty on Nuclear Power, which he had threatened to withdraw.
On the other hand, Russia said it would have to reciprocate to restore military balance with the United States if US President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and began developing new missiles.
But Russia has hinted it might back down as a senior Kremlin official told the US national security adviser that Moscow was prepared to discuss US concerns over the implementation of the 1987 treaty.
Trump stressed his concern about the treaty and told reporters in Washington: "Russia has not complied with the treaty."
China should also join the treaty, he said, noting that all parties should stop trying to develop medium-range nuclear weapons.
The cautionary response came from Moscow after Trump said on Saturday that Washington would withdraw from the Cold War treaty, which ended Europe from nuclear missiles.
Despite Russia's repeated denials, the US authorities are convinced that Moscow is developing, and even deployed, a missile system in violation of the treaty, which could allow Russia to launch a nuclear strike on Europe in a short time.
On the other hand, US National Security Adviser John Bolton held talks in Moscow with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev.
In remarks after the talks, Bolton denied Russia's claim that the United States was looming to withdraw from the treaty to blackmail Russia.
The Russian news agency quoted Bolton as saying that Washington had not yet taken any decision on the deployment of missiles in Europe to target Moscow in the event of disruption of the treaty.
Bolton said Russia was violating the treaty, which Moscow denies.
"The next step is to consult with our friends in Europe and Asia," Bolton radio quoted Bolton as saying, adding that consultations with Russia would also continue.
