The Russian army can outgun British troops on the battlefield, a leaked report suggests, following military advances by the Kremlin.

The assessment by the British Army's warfare branch, seen by The Times newspaper, warned that Russian weapons, including rocket launchers and air defence systems, were more powerful than their British equivalents.

It came as Vladimir Putin and Theresa May on Tuesday spoke for the first time since she took office and both expressed dissatisfaction with the current state of Russian-British relations.

The announcement by the Kremlin could herald the start of improved relations between the two countries that have been strained since the 2006 poisoning death of former spy Alexander Litvinenko and the Ukraine crisis, among other issues.