Russia defends arms sales to Venezuela
Russia will keep its military
cooperation with Venezuela to attend to the needs of the country,
visiting Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Serguei Kislyak said here Monday.
"The cooperation with Venezuela in the military sector only responds to
the needs of the country, that is why it does not have a destabilizing
character," Kislyak said after a meeting with Venezuelan Vice President
Jose Rangel.
"We appreciate our Venezuelan friends as our very important partners of
the continent and we're going to develop our cooperation," he added.
The Russian deputy minister also announced that in late 2005, a Russian
commission will travel to Venezuela to develop new contacts and expand
the spheres of cooperation.
Early this month, Venezuelan Defense Minister Jorge Garcia signed an
agreement with representatives of the Russian state-owned firm Rosoboron
export to acquire 10 helicopters worth 120 million US dollars.
The purchase of the aircraft and 100,000 AK-103 and AK-104 assault
rifles from Russia has generated concern from the US government, which
fears that these arms could end up in the hands of illegal armed groups.
Meanwhile, tensions between Venezuela and the United States have been
escalating amid exchanges of hostile rhetoric, in which Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez accused Washington of planning to assassinate him,
while US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice called him a "negative
force" in Latin America.
With the largest proven oil reserves in western hemisphere, Venezuela is
the world's fifth-largest oil exporter that produces more than 3 million
barrels of crude oil a day. It sells 60 percent of its crude oil to the
United States.
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