Russia has violated the landmark 1987 nuclear missile treaty by testing a new ground-launched cruise missile, the US has said, describing it as a "very serious matter".

President Barack Obama yesterday wrote a letter to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, in this regard. Secretary of State John Kerry also spoke with his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov, a day earlier on Sunday. "The United States has determined that the Russian Federation is in violation of its obligations under the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty," a senior administration official told PTI.

"More specifically, the 2014 Compliance Report includes a determination that the Russian Federation is in violation of its INF Treaty obligations not to possess, produce, or flight-test a ground-launched cruise missile with a range capability of 500 to 5,500 kilometres, or to possess or produce launchers of such missiles," the official said on condition of anonymity.