Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was due to meet Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin yesterday to seal massive arms deals that have angered Washington, as part of a world tour seen as anti-American.
The leaders of two of the world's biggest oil producers were also expected to discuss energy markets and Venezuela's firebrand leader could seek Russian support for his bid to join the UN Security Council as a non-permanent member.
"I want to thank President Putin for his determination in reinforcing Venezuela's defence capacity," Chavez told reporters upon arrival at Moscow airport on Wednesday.
Chavez said Moscow and Caracas would sign a deal on opening a Kalashnikov assault rifle factory in Venezuela and seal an agreement in which Russia is to sell Su-30 fighter jets to Venezuela.
"I am not an aggressor and have not come for weapons with which to fight against all and everyone. It's simply that our army's weapons are old," Chavez said after visiting a Kalashnikov factory in the city of Izhevsk on Wednesday.
Chavez's fourth visit to Russia was part of a world tour seen by analysts as an attempt to bolster resistance against US influence. Chavez is next set to visit Iran, regarded by Washington as part of an "axis of evil."
So far on his tour he has met with two arch-foes of Washington, presidents Fidel Castro of Cuba and Alexander Lukashenko of Belarus, dubbed "the last dictatorship in Europe" by US officials.
The Russian side has said Venezuela's warplanes order is worth more than US$1 billion and insisted the deal will go ahead. The US, which has banned weapons sales to Caracas by US manufacturers, has opposed it.
"We certainly hope that the Russians will reconsider this sale," US State Department spokesman Tom Casey said this week.
"We've repeatedly [told] the Russian government that the arms purchases planned by Venezuela exceeded its defensive needs and are not helpful in terms of regional stability," Casey said.
A Kremlin statement released yesterday ahead of Putin's meeting with Chavez said: "Bilateral military cooperation is developing very successfully ... in strict accordance with international obligations."
The statement also said that Russian energy majors were increasingly active in Venezuela and the meeting between the two leaders was a sign of cooperation between independent oil producers and OPEC members.
"Our countries support stability in the international oil market," it said.
During his visit, which began in the city of Volgograd on Tuesday, Chavez said that Venezuela is looking to build a pipe factory for energy infrastructure using Russian technology.
Chavez also said that Lukoil, Russia's top oil company, will start work on two Venezuelan oil deposits by the end of the year.
Russia is the world's second biggest oil producer after Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela, a member of the OPEC cartel, is the ninth biggest producer.
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