News, views and top stories in your inbox. Don't miss our must-read newsletter Sign up Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

One of Vladimir Putin's closest aides has issued a chilling warning to the West: "Tanks don't need visas".

Deputy premier Dmitry Rogozin - seen by some as a future Kremlin president - claimed the West is now scared of Moscow's military muscle.

His outspoken words come as the West remains at loggerheads with Russia over Putin's seizure of Crimea, and alleged military strongarm tactics in eastern Ukraine.

Vowing to exploit the vast mineral riches of the Arctic, Rogozin claimed that America and Euorpe "are afraid of Russia".

The West is "afraid of the fact that we have started looking around, at our enormous territory", which, he argued, reached far north of existing frontiers in the Arctic.

In overall charge of Russia's space and defence industries, he told a TV show that Russia would develop "our huge EurAsia", exploiting vast mineral wealth under the Arctic ice.

(Image: Getty)

Even though international bodies have yet to approve Russia's claim to the oil, gas and other natural resources, Rogozin, 51, vowed: "It is our territory, it is our shelf, and we'll provide its security. And we will make money there."

He threatened the West: "I have always joked about it, that they will not give us visas.

"They will put us on a sanctions list - but tanks do not need visas."

An ardent Russian nationalist - who faced US and EU sanctions over the Ukraine crisis - told Russian viewers referring to Moscow's latest high-tech tank: "We should not look at anybody or be offended, we should just go. We are one big Armata."

The Arctic would be the scene of "serious economic collisions in the 21st century", he warned, with the US and Canada among countries with competing claims for the undersea riches.

But Rogozin, who has enjoyed fast-track promotion under Putin, warned corruption not the West was his country's biggest enemy.

(Image: Getty)

"I have always said before and keep repeating our real enemy is not NATO, nor aliens, but our corruption."

He boasted about Russian atomic capability declaring: "Our nuclear shield is strong, it is so strong that I would say it is more powerful than anyone else's.

"This is why Russia today can ensure its strategic security, not only going face to face with the USA, but also face to face with the whole Western coalition."

Moscow's firepower displayed on Red Square recently was an armoury the West saw as "an ideal they should strive for", he alleged.

He blamed recent humiliating failures in Russian space launches on corruption.

He claimed "up to 100" space officials had been arrested for diverting money into personal accounts and other crimes.

"These are managers who were caught stealing," he said, vowing to clean up the sector.