Russia has abandoned a long-held nuclear "freeze" after Donald Trump deployed submarines near Vladimir Putin's coasts.
Moscow has said it no longer considers itself bound by a self-imposed ban on the deployment of missiles - and is poised to bring short- and intermediate-range nuclear weapons into action.
The move follows Trump's reveal that he was repositioning two US nuclear submarines in response to nuclear threats from the former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, one of Putin's closest allies.
Medvedev claimed Russia's latest move was "the result of Nato countries' anti-Russian policy".
"This is a new reality of all our opponents will have to reckon with. Expect further steps," he blasted.
The previous Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, which was signed by Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev in 1987, was axed after Trump pulled America out in 2019.
In response, Moscow said it would not deploy missiles - providing Washington did not either.
REUTERS
|Russia has said it no longer considers itself bound by its self-imposed freeze on the deployment of missiles
Moscow has now said it is reversing that decision over "national security threats" from Washington's deployment of Typhon launchers and Tomahawk cruise missiles to the Philippines.
From there, the missiles can reach both Russia and China.
The US was also accused of transferring land-based missile launchers to Nato member states in Europe by Russia, which suggested the military exercises had "a clear anti-Russian focus".
The Russian Foreign Ministry said: "Since the situation is developing towards the actual deployment of US-made land-based medium and short-range missiles in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region... the conditions for maintaining a unilateral moratorium on the deployment of similar weapons have disappeared."
REUTERS
|The US President has repositioned two nuclear submarines
While there was no direct mention of Trump's response to Medvedev's threats, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov had previously urged the US President to stay calm.
He said: "We believe that everyone should be very, very cautious with nuclear rhetoric."
Last week Trump suggested the deployment of the two US nuclear submarines closer to Russia was in response to "highly provocative" comments by Medvedev.
While it has been confirmed the submarines are "in the region", no further details have been given - such as if the submarines are nuclear-powered or carrying nuclear missiles.
REUTERS
|The former Russian President has been locked in a war of words with Donald Trump
Medvedev had previously warned Trump that supporting Ukraine could risk a "hot war" between Russia and the US, referencing Moscow's "Dead Hand" automatic nuclear retaliation system.
The head of state-run Russian TV outlet RT, Margarita Simonyan, said on Monday: "If American foreign policy has any clear aims this century, it's making sure that in case war it is the spires of European cathedrals that go up in flames first."
The only remaining deal now between the US and Russia which limits nuclear weapons is the 2011 New START treaty - signed off by Medvedev himself and Barack Obama - which places restrictions on strategic nuclear arms, including intercontinental missiles.
It is set to expire in February next year, and analysts have warned a failure to replace it will lead to a new arms race.
In April, the Kremlin said it was "very difficult to imagine" how talks on its replacement could begin whilst there are such high tensions surrounding the war in Ukraine.