MOSCOW: President Vladimir Putin on Monday suspended Russia`s participation in a key nuclear arms treaty, in response to Washington`s decision to withdraw.

In a decree, Putin suspended Russia`s obligations under the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty and said it will continue to do so `until the US ends its violations of the treaty or until it terminates`.

The US gave notice of its intention to withdraw from the INF a month ago, setting the stage for it to terminate in six months unless Moscow returns to compliance.

Russia has denied any breaches, and accused the US of violating the pact.The US has accused Russia of developing and deploying a cruise missile that violates provisions of the pact that ban production, testing and deployment of land-based cruise and ballistic missiles with a range of 500 to 5,500kms.

The collapse of the INF Treaty has stoked fears of a replay of a Cold War-era Europe missile crisis, when the US and the Soviet Union both deployed intermediate-range missiles on the continent during the 1980s.

Putin has warned the US against deploying new missiles in Europe, saying that Russia will retaliate by fielding new fast weapons that will take just as little time to reach their targets.-AP