Venezuela's Chavez in Russia to ink deal

MOSCOW --Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived Tuesday in Russia for a three-day visit that is expected to include signing several arms deals that have raised the ire of the United States.

Chavez arrived from neighboring Belarus, where he met with authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko, who shares his strong anti-U.S. views.

Chavez's first stop in Russia was the southern city of Volgograd, formerly known as Stalingrad, where he visited a vast World War II monument, placing a wreath and bowing his head as he stood in front of an eternal flame. Greeted on the airport tarmac by top regional officials and uniformed Cossacks, Chavez followed Cossack tradition by drinking a shot of vodka from a cup placed on a saber.

He heads Wednesday to Moscow, where he is to meet with President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. Chavez is to sign a series of major Russian weapons contracts, including a more than US$1 billion (790 million euro) deal for 30 Su-30 fighter jets and 30 helicopters.

Chavez has used surging oil revenues to modernize Venezuela's military, signing multibillion-dollar defense deals with countries including Russia and Spain. Venezuela earlier reached a deal to buy 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and is hoping to set up factories to produce the rifles under license.

Chavez is expected to stop Wednesday in the Volga River city of Izhevsk and visit a factory where Kalashnikovs are made.

During talks with Lukashenko, the two sides signed seven agreements on military-technical cooperation, economic, energy and other ties as well as a declaration pledging a strategic partnership. Bilateral trade was just under US$16 million (13 million euros) in 2005.

The visit to Belarus appeared to be largely an opportunity for Chavez to put forth anti-U.S. rhetoric. Both Lukashenko and Chavez claim the United States is trying to overthrow their governments.

"The jaws of imperialism and hegemony have clenched over Belarus," Chavez said Tuesday. "Our countries should keep their hands on their knives."

Chavez has courted foes and critics of Washington in what he calls an effort to create a global counterbalance to U.S. domination. He has crafted a socialist trade bloc with Cuba and Bolivia, signed a series of deals with Iran, and supported North Korea's right to test-fire missiles.

Belarusian Foreign Minister Sergei Martynov said the sides agreed on "mutual support on all key questions in international organizations," suggesting Belarus would back Chavez's effort to secure a non-permanent U.N. Security Council seat. The U.S. government is lobbying to block Venezuela's bid for a seat, backing Guatemala instead. The General Assembly will decide the issue in a secret ballot in October.

Belarus and Venezuela agreed to create joint ventures for the extraction and sale of Venezuelan oil and gas, Belarusian Security Council chief Viktor Sheiman said. A Belarusian administration official, who demanded anonymity because he was not authorized to speak about the issue for attribution, said the agreement means Belarus will be involved in the extraction and sale of oil and gas to the United States.

Prime Minister Sergei Sidorsky said that Belarus will increase deliveries of fertilizer to Venezuela tenfold and plans to build truck, tractor and heavy machinery factories in Venezuela.

Chavez also was slated to visit Qatar and Mali. He has abandoned plans to travel to North Korea.

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Associated Press Writer Yuras Karmanau contributed to this report from Minsk, Belarus.