Venezuela and Russia pledge to cooperate

[Judi Lynn]

Venezuela and Russia pledge to cooperate
By Anne Barnard
Tuesday, July 22, 2008

MOSCOW: President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela and President Dmitri Medvedev of Russia said Tuesday that their countries would more closely coordinate their actions on global oil and gas markets and that they would work together on foreign policy, a sphere in which both countries have sought to counter U.S. influence.

Chávez, who is expected to sign contracts to purchase more than $1 billion worth of Russian arms, called for the two nations to become "strategic partners" to defend against what he called a U.S. threat to his country.

"That will guarantee the sovereignty of Venezuela, which the United States is now threatening," Chávez said at the start of two days of planned meetings, according to the official Russian news agency RIA-Novosti.

Medvedev, who met Chávez for the first time since he succeeded Vladimir Putin as president last winter, stopped short of endorsing his guest's sharp remarks about the United States. So did Russian officials, who emphasized the business significance of the new cooperation, including three deals to expand Russian oil and gas companies' presence in Latin America, rather than its political import.

But Medvedev noted that the two countries aim to promote the United Nations as the primary means for settling international disputes.

"We think that it is our common task to achieve a more democratic, just and secure world," Medvedev said, according to Interfax. "We are ready to work on this, together with the Venezuelan president."

More:
http://www.iht.com/bin/printfriendly.php?id=14699539