Russia eyes arms sales to Venezuela
RUSSIA:.Russian may sell $5 billion worth of weapons to Venezuela,
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said on Monday after a visit to the South
American nation. Putin met Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez in Caracas
on Friday to discuss oil, defence and nuclear energy cooperation,
although no new no arms agreements were signed.
The United States expressed concern about possible arms proliferation
following such a deal with Venezuela, one its most prominent foes in the
region.
Chavez says his growing arsenal is aimed at countering a planned
increase in the U.S. military forces in neighbouring Colombia,
Washington’s closest ally in Latin America.
“Our delegation has just returned from Venezuela and the overall
volume of orders could exceed $5 billion,” Putin was quoted as saying by
Russian news agencies at a meeting with arms industry officials.
Putin said the figure included $2.2 billion in credit lines for
Russian arms received by Chavez during his eighth visit to Moscow in
September, including T-72 tanks and the S-300 advanced anti-aircraft
missile system, RIA news agency reported.
The reports did not give any further details.
In Washington, State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told a news
briefing:
“We’re hard pressed to see what legitimate defence needs Venezuela
has for this equipment.”
“If Venezuela is going to increase its military hardware, we
certainly don’t want to see this hardware migrate to other parts of the
hemisphere.” In recent years, Venezuela has bought more than $4 billion
worth of weapons from Russia, from Sukhoi jet fighters to Kalashnikov
assault rifles.
During his Moscow visit in September, Chavez recognized the
independence of two pro-Russian rebel territories in Georgia. President
Dmitry Medvedev said then that Russia would supply Venezuela with all
the arms it asked for.
Chavez wants to reinforce the Venezuelan military with Russian
missiles, tanks and diesel submarines. He says he wants to resist what
he calls U.S. imperialism in Latin America. Moscow, Tuesday, Reuters
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