• Russia, US discussed possible Putin visit to Washington
• Nato does not want new nuclear arms race: alliance chief

Washington will press ahead with a plan to quit a landmark nuclear arms control pact despite objections from Russia and some European countries, senior US official John Bolton said on Tuesday, after meeting Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Bolton had a 90-minute meeting in the Kremlin with Putin which resulted in an agreement for the Russian leader to hold talks with US President Donald Trump in Paris next month, their first meeting since a July summit in Helsinki.

But the Moscow talks appeared to yield no breakthrough over Trump's stated desire for Washington to leave the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF), a step Moscow has decried as dangerous and many European countries have warned could reignite a Cold War-style arms race, reported Reuters.

"There's a new strategic reality out there," Bolton, who is National Security Advisor to Trump, told a news conference, adding that the Cold War-era treaty did not address new missile threats from countries such as China, Iran and North Korea, and was therefore redundant.

"In terms of filing the formal notice of withdrawal, that has not been filed but it will be filed in due course," he said, suggesting it was a process that could take several months.

Moscow has warned Washington it will be forced to respond in kind to restore the military balance if Trump carries through with his threat to quit the INF treaty, a 1987 agreement that eliminated all short- and intermediate-range land-based nuclear and conventional missiles held by both countries in Europe.

"The problem is there are Russian INF violations in Europe now," Bolton told reporters, repeating an allegation Moscow denies.

"The threat is not America's INF withdrawal from the treaty. The threat is Russian missiles already deployed."

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said yesterday Russia and the United States have discussed the possibility of President Vladimir Putin visiting Washington next year. No specific plans had yet been arranged, Peskov told reporters on a conference call.

Meanwhile, Nato chief Jens Stoltenberg said yesterday he did not see the alliance's member states deploying more nuclear weapons in Europe in response to a new Russian missile programme, reported AFP.

"We don't want a new Cold War," the alliance's secretary general told reporters. "We don't want a new arms race.

"And I don't foresee that (Nato) allies will deploy more nuclear weapons in Europe as a response to the new Russian missile," he added.

Stoltenberg was speaking after Trump said he was ready to build up the US nuclear arsenal in response to Russia's SSC-8 missile programme.