Trump to dump 1987 Gorbachev-Reagan nuclear missile treaty

Donald Trump says the US is going to withdraw from a 1987 treaty with Russia that bans a wide array of nuclear weapons because Moscow violated the agreement.

The US is going to unilaterally pull out of a more-than-30-year-old treaty with Russia that bans a wide array of nuclear weapons, US President Donald Trump says.

The 1987 Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty was signed by US president Ronald Reagan and Soviet general secretary Mikhail Gorbachev in Washington. It banned nuclear and conventional missiles with ranges of 500 to 1000 kilometres, as well as their launchers.

President Donald Trump has flagged he wants out of the 1987 deal. Source: AAP

The US and Russia have long accused one another of violating the terms of the treaty.

"We're going to terminate the treaty and we're going to pull out," Trump told reporters in Nevada, where he was campaigning for a Republican Senate candidate on Saturday.

When asked what that meant practically, he said "We'll have to develop those weapons."

President Ronald Reagan shakes hands with Mikhail Gorbachev after the leaders signed a treaty during a ceremony in the White House East Room in Washington DC. Source: AP

Trump says Moscow has violated the agreement, but provided no details.