The United States has threatened to pull out of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF) which bans Moscow and Washington from stationing short and intermediate-range, land-based missiles in Europe.
Putin said the move, if it happened, would have unpredictable consequences.
"We are essentially witnessing the breakdown of the international arms control order and (the start of) an arms race," Putin told his annual news conference with hundreds of reporters.