The missile test on Sunday would have been banned under a now-defunct arms treaty.
The Pentagon confirmed it tested a modified ground-launched version of a Navy Tomahawk cruise missile, which hit its target more than 310 miles (499km) away.
It follows the pull-out of both Washington and Moscow from the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty, which prohibited the use of such weapons.
The Russian president spoke after talks with Finnish leader Sauli Niinisto on Wednesday.
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Mr Putin argued that the quick test indicated that America had begun working on the missile long before declaring its intention to abandon the pact.
The Russian leader said the test signalled “the emergence of new threats, to which we will react accordingly”.
“The Americans have tested this missile too quickly after having withdrawn from the treaty,” Mr Putin said.
“That gives us strong reason to believe that they had started work to adapt the sea-launched missile long before they began looking for excuses to opt out of the treaty.”
The US said it withdrew from the treaty following Russian violations, which Moscow denies.
Mr Putin said his country would work to create similar missiles but reaffirmed that it would not deploy missiles previously banned by the treaty to any area before the US does.
