Russian president Vladimir Putin offered a tentative olive branch to the west on Thursday, denouncing “myths about Russian aggression” and expressing hope that the incoming US administration would work with Moscow to fight terrorism.

Speaking in the Kremlin’s gilded main hall to both houses of parliament, dozens of senior officials, state company bosses and priests, Mr Putin said that Moscow wanted to “normalise” relationships with the US under its next president, Donald Trump.

“We have a shared responsibility to ensure international security and stability and to strengthen disarmament regimes,” Mr Putin said in his annual state of the nation address on Thursday. “I would like to underline that attempts to break strategic parity are highly dangerous and could lead to a global catastrophe. We cannot forget about this for a second.”