President Putin had supported Scottish independence, but is now wary of the country’s support for the EU and Nato

President Putin regards the SNP as a threat and will oppose Scottish independence after Britain’s departure from the EU, a former government foreign policy adviser has said.

David Clark, an international affairs analyst who was an adviser to Robin Cook, the late Labour foreign secretary, said that Mr Putin had cooled on Scottish independence as the SNP has forged closer links with the European Union and Nato.

Experts are divided over whether an independent Scotland would advance the Russian president’s ambition to destabilise western institutions, or be a thorn in his side as a liberal country seeking close relations with the European Union and Nato.

“In 2014 the clear-cut strategic calculation for Russia was that independence would benefit their agenda of trying to prize apart