Russia has warned US President Donald Trump's push to withdraw from a landmark anti-proliferation weapons deal could spark a new arms race between Moscow and Washington and"make the world a more dangerous place".

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Monday that Russia would be forced to act if the United States pulled out of the 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty.

"Because what does scrapping the INF treaty mean?It means that the United States is not disguising, but is openly starting to develop these systems in the future,"Peskov told reporters at a press conference in the Russian capital, Moscow.

"And if these systems are being developed, then actions are necessary from other countries, in this case Russia, to restore balance in this sphere," he added.

Peskov's comments came ahead of talks between US National Security Adviser John Bolton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.

Bolton,who arrived in Moscow on Monday for a two-day summit during which he will also meet Russian President Vladimir Putin,is expected to face intense inquiries from Kremlin officials over Trump's plans for the deal.

The INF, which banned all nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges of 500 to 5,500km, was signed in 1987 at a Cold War-era Washington summit between the then-US President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General-Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev. (Aljazeera)