Russia Reaches Out to Venezuela

MOSCOW -- Riding high after a testy Group of Eight summit at which Moscow asserted its independence from Washington, Russian President Vladimir Putin today is expected to sign a deal valued at more than $1 billion to provide Venezuela with advanced fighter aircraft and Kalashnikov assault rifles despite U.S. objections.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez has been a thorn in the side of the Bush administration, and the high-level meetings he has secured in Russia and Belarus are being closely watched in Washington for signs of how far the Kremlin plans to stray from the West as relations between them grow chillier. Mr. Chávez's visit is part of a world tour to gather allies for a geopolitical counterbalance to the U.S. and to rally support for his bid to secure a nonpermanent seat for Caracas on the United Nations Security Council.

The arms deal appears to be a move by Mr. Chávez to keep his military commanders fat and happy as he vies for regional leadership in Latin America. During his presidency, the Venezuelan navy and air force in particular have been starved for new equipment because Mr. Chávez doesn't trust the officers in those services.

Russia's expanding ties with Venezuela are the latest example of a new assertiveness in Kremlin foreign policy, driven by growing frustration with what Moscow sees as U.S. high-handedness around the world and by Russia's oil-fueled economic recovery. Moscow has cultivated ties with China and sought to forge its own line in the Middle East, restoring Soviet-era relations to regimes at odds with the U.S. such as Syria.

Moscow sees little prospect for a military or strategic alliance with Mr. Chávez, but the timing of his visit was meant to send a message to Washington, said Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the Moscow-based Fond Politika think tank whose views often conform to the Kremlin's. "Russia is not interested in some kind of anti-American alliance," he said.

The Kremlin feels the U.S. is propping up governments of former Soviet states close to its borders that are now hostile to Moscow. Shortly before Russia hosted the G-8 conference of leading nations in St. Petersburg, the Bush administration invited Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to Washington, which the Kremlin took as a slap because of Mr. Saakashvili's pro-West views. Mr. Nikonov said the Venezuelan president, a strident leftist populist, was invited to Moscow as a response.

"It was quid pro quo," Mr. Nikonov said. "The Americans may not like Chávez, but Russia feels exactly the same as the Americans do about Saakashvili."

State television followed Mr. Chávez closely as he toured Russia's industrial heartland and praised its munitions industry. He observed local customs by drinking a shot of vodka balanced on a Cossack's sword and visited a factory making Kalashnikov rifles, which he called "the standard for the armed forces of Venezuela."

In Belarus, he praised the authoritarian government of President Alexander Lukashenko, and pledged to find ways to increase trade between the countries.

While the Kremlin hasn't responded to calls by Mr. Chávez for a geopolitical alliance, it has shown interest in his appetite for weaponry. Before Mr. Chávez's arrival, Russia's Foreign Ministry stressed that talks would focus on economic and trade relations, though a spokesman noted that the two countries did largely agree on international issues, and that Russia did favor "well balanced reforms" at the U.N.

Rising antagonism toward Washington in both countries was a catalyst for the arms deal. The U.S. in May slapped a weapons ban on Venezuela, with which many countries have been obligated to fall in line. Mr. Chávez responded by saying he would restock his air force with Russian planes and sell Venezuela's aging inventory of U.S.-built fighter aircraft to Iran.

The contract to be signed includes the sale of 30 helicopters and 30 Sukhoi Su-30 fighter aircraft. Mr. Chávez said he also acquired a license to make Kalashnikov assault rifles and ammunition in Venezuela.

"We are breaking the U.S. blockade that was aimed at disarming Venezuela," Mr. Chávez said in comments broadcast on state-run television in Venezuela. "We are not going to attack anyone, but nobody should make a mistake with us."

The Kremlin brushed off U.S. objections to the sale of 100,000 Kalashnikovs to Caracas last year. Though the U.S. argued this week that Venezuela's purchase of Su-30s -- advanced fighter jets that costs $30 million to $45 million each -- will destabilize the region, Russia's defense minister responded that a cancellation is out of the question. Its Foreign Ministry said military cooperation with Venezuela is "in strict compliance" with Moscow's international obligations.

The aircraft purchases wouldn't affect the region in the near term because the Russian jets require enormous amounts of maintenance and training -- and the Venezuelan military is notoriously lax at upkeep, said John Cope, an expert on Latin American militaries at the Institute for National Strategic Studies in Washington.

The Kalashnikovs could pose a bigger problem. Officials in neighboring Colombia worry the weapons and ammunition Venezuela will be licensed to make will find their way to guerrillas in the 16,000-strong Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, worsening that country's decades-long civil war.

The Kremlin's worsening relations with Washington may have helped Mr. Chávez acquire higher-quality merchandise. The Venezuelan leader had long hoped to buy Sukhoi fighter aircraft from Russia, but Moscow had refrained in recent years because they were deemed to be too advanced and objectionable to the U.S.

"Two or three years ago it wasn't possible to even talk about a sale of this kind," said Ruslan Pukhov, director of the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies, an independent Moscow-based think tank that monitors the defense industry. "The atmosphere has changed."