President Donald Trump said Friday the United States is withdrawing from a 1987 nuclear arms control treaty with Russia in response to alleged violations by Moscow, sparking concerns about a new arms race that could also involve other nations such as China.

Russian President Vladimir Putin responded Saturday by saying Moscow will also halt its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty. He also revealed plans to start development of a new hypersonic intermediate-range missile, adding to concerns about arms proliferation.

[Getty/Kyodo]

The United States will suspend its compliance with the INF treaty on Saturday and withdraw from the Cold War-era pact in six months unless Russia ends its violations, Trump said in a statement. Moscow denies violating the accord.

"Tomorrow, the United States will suspend its obligations under the INF treaty and begin the process of withdrawing from the INF treaty, which will be completed in six months unless Russia comes back into compliance by destroying all of its violating missiles, launchers, and associated equipment," Trump said.

Later Friday, Trump expressed hope that the United States can negotiate a broader accord that would involve other nuclear powers such as an increasingly assertive China.

"I hope that we're able to get everybody in a big and beautiful room and do a new treaty that would be much better," Trump said at the White House. "Certainly I would like to see that. But you have to have everybody adhere to it."

Accusing Russia of violating the accord "with impunity, covertly developing and fielding a prohibited missile system that poses a direct threat to our allies and troops abroad," Trump said, "We cannot be the only country in the world unilaterally bound by this treaty, or any other."

Trump administration officials have grown concerned that China -- a non-INF treaty party -- is gaining a significant military advantage in Asia by developing missiles with ranges beyond the pact's limit.

U.S. national security adviser John Bolton said in October that the pact is outdated because it does not cover China, Iran and North Korea -- countries that have been beefing up their missile capabilities.

Trump said Washington's North Atlantic Treaty Organization allies "fully support us, because they understand the threat posed by Russia's violation and the risks to arms control posed by ignoring treaty violations."

Russia condemned the U.S. move, saying Moscow will "continue decisively countering U.S. destructive steps in the sphere of arms control and nonproliferation," according to Tass news agency.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement issued Friday that it has noted "a new surge of absolutely unfounded critical comments made by the U.S. regarding Russia's obligations," and that Russian initiatives are based on international law.

"We have all grounds to assume that the real reason behind such U.S. actions lies in the real and rather serious weakening of U.S. positions on the international arena," Tass quoted the statement as saying.

"American partners have announced suspension of their participation in the treaty, and we will suspend ours," Putin told a meeting with Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Saturday.

Putin said Russia will not deploy its intermediate and short-range missiles unless the United States would do so in Europe and other regions.

China also expressed regret over Trump's announcement of withdrawal from the INF treaty, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Geng Shuang saying in a statement on Saturday that the treaty has an "important significance in protecting the strategic balance and stability of the world."

He also denied China would take part in the new multilateral arms control treaty proposed by Trump, citing political, military and legal complexities.

On Dec. 4, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the United States will exit from the pact unless Russia returns to compliance within 60 days. The 60-day deadline expires on Saturday.

The United States has long contended that Russia has been in violation of the treaty by deploying a range of tactical nuclear weapons to intimidate former Soviet states that have aligned with the West.

With Trump announcing the U.S. withdrawal from the INF treaty, the administration is now weighing whether to extend the 2010 New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, another U.S.-Russia agreement, that expires in February 2021.

The treaty's terms permit it to be extended for five years.