Vladimir Putin has said Russia may lift its self-imposed restrictions on developing short- and medium-range missiles and would keep its non-strategic nuclear forces on constant combat alert, as he warned that the west was pushing Moscow to “a red line we can’t step back from”.

The Russian president said in a speech to the defence ministry on Monday that he was concerned about the US deploying short- and medium-range missiles abroad and warned that Nato was threatening Russia in Europe and “beyond its historical zone of responsibility” in Asia.

He added that Russia would step up production of hypersonic weapons — such as the new Oreshnik ballistic missile, which it fired at Ukraine for the first time last month — in response to any US deployments of short- and medium-range missiles in Europe and Asia.