President Putin has ordered his generals to form a military alliance with France in the fight to destroy Islamic State, heralding the closest relationship between Russia and the West for more than a decade.

The Russian leader called President Hollande yesterday and both agreed to co-ordinate missions to fight the terrorist network after the attacks on Paris that left 129 dead.

Mr Putin ordered commanders on board the Moskva, a Russian cruiser in the Mediterranean, to make contact with the French navy and to treat France as their ally.

Yesterday, the Kremlin fired dozens of cruise missiles from long-range bombers and a submarine at Isis targets after it was confirmed that a 1kg bomb had brought down the Russian passenger jet over Egypt last