The guided-missile destroyer USS Barry launches a Tomahawk cruise missile from the ship's bow in the Mediterranean Sea in this U.S. Navy handout photo taken March 29, 2011. (Reuters Photo)

MOSCOW, Oct. 24 (Xinhua) -- Washington's intention to quit the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty (INF Treaty) is tantamount to starting a new arms race, the Kremlin said Wednesday.

"This is an extremely dangerous attempt. It is actually a declaration of an intention to get involved in an arms race and increase the potential of armaments," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a daily briefing.

"Amid such statements, we of course have first of all to think about our national interests and national security," he added.

Also on Wednesday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and his German counterpart Heiko Maas discussed the situation around the possible U.S. withdrawal from the INF Treaty in a phone conversation.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday said that Washington would pull out of the INF Treaty on account of Russia's alleged breach of the agreement.

The treaty was signed in 1987 between the Soviet Union and the United States on the elimination of intermediate-range and shorter-range missiles.

The deal marked the first-ever pact reached by Washington and Moscow on nuclear disarmament and a major step forward in restricting the arms race.