Russian President Vladimir Putin has claimed that a new alliance with China to create space weapons would “unleash havoc” in the West if it was used to target satellites.

In a rare open press conference yesterday, the Russian leader said that the partnership with world superpower China was a “strategic” one, formed while tensions between his country and NATO are growing over a possible war with Ukraine.

Mr Putin said: “We cooperate with China in the security area. China’s armed forces are equipped with the most advanced weapons systems to a large extent.

“We are even developing certain high-tech types of weapons. We are working in space, aircraft areas.”

It is feared that, should Russia and China take the extraordinary action of attacking Western satellites, it could literally and figuratively plunge it into the "dark ages", according to sources.

Henry Jackson Society research fellow Isabel Sawkins, who specialises in Russia, told The Sun Online such an alliance between Russia and China could “potentially be catastrophic” the West.

She said: “Bringing China into the conversation is a deadly addition for the West. This would mean America's standing in the world will be absolutely shot to pieces.

“If you have Russia and China working together the US is going to go into absolute panic, because China is on its way up in the world.

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“It's not only a massive economy – they have so much power.

“You would have China working with Russia and them both having this anxiety over the West – and that brings them together.

“That's a really terrifying prospect.”

On other geopolitical issues, Putin called on the West to “unfreeze” Afghanistan's financial assets, which was done after the Taliban re-took control of the country earlier this year.

While he did not say whether Russia would recognise the new government in Kabul, but said he hoped the situation in the country would be stable and warned against the penetration of extremists into the bordering Central Asian republics, The Moscow Times reports.

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