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President Vladimir Putin has called for the resumption of production of Russian medium-range missiles, the production of which was banned due to a contract with the United States that has since been terminated.

The Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) was considered a milestone in arms control when then-Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan signed it in the 1980s.

It banned ground-based missiles with a range of between 500 and 5,500 kilometers.

The US withdrew from the treaty in 2019, citing Russian violations.

“We must start producing these attack systems and then, based on the actual situation, make decisions about where to deploy them if necessary to ensure our security,” Putin said on Friday at a meeting of the Russian National Security Council.

Putin said Russia has not produced such missiles since the treaty was terminated in 2019, but “today it is known that the United States is not only producing these missile systems, but has already brought them to Europe, to Denmark, for exercises. Only recently it was announced that they are in the Philippines.”

The US has been testing missiles that would have been banned under the INF Treaty since it was terminated.

The end of the INF Treaty was a milestone in the deterioration of relations between the United States and Russia.

The last remaining arms control pact between Washington and Moscow is the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, which limits the deployment of a maximum of 1,550 nuclear warheads and 700 missiles and bombers per country.

It expires in 2026, and the fact that no talks are taking place on establishing a successor agreement is a concern for arms control advocates.

The Institute for War Research (ISW) said Putin’s statement was “part of an ongoing reflexive control campaign by the Kremlin … aimed at preventing Western military aid to Ukraine.”

“Throughout its invasion, the Kremlin has stoked fears of a nuclear confrontation between Russia and the West in order to induce self-deterrence in the West and prevent it from supplying Ukraine with the weapons it needs to defend itself against Russian forces,” the ISW said.

“The Kremlin is using this tool particularly at key moments in Western political discussions about further military aid to Ukraine.”

In June, Mr Putin spoke to leaders of international news organizations about Moscow’s use of nuclear weapons.

“We have a nuclear doctrine, look what it says,” he said. “If someone’s actions threaten our sovereignty and territorial integrity, we consider it possible that we will use all the means at our disposal. This should not be taken lightly.”