Russia defies U.S. on new Abkhaz, S. Ossetia bases

WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 (UPI) -- Russia is stepping up its presence in the two Georgian secessionist provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia following its successful mini-war against Georgia in August.

RIA Novosti reported Friday that the Russian army would activate two new military bases, one in South Ossetia and the other in Abkhazia, next year.

RIA Novosti cited a Russian Defense Ministry official in Moscow as saying the Abkhaz base would be located in Gudauta, in the west of the province, and the South Ossetian one would be located in Tskhinvali, the provincial capital. The report said each base would house 3,700 Russian troops.

The Russian move looks certain to infuriate the U.S. government, especially coming after the presidential election Tuesday that reduced incumbent George W. Bush to lame-duck status, while it will be more than two months before the 44th president, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., takes the oath of office.

Russia already has recognized South Ossetia and Abkhazia as separate republics following its successful mini-war against Georgia from Aug. 8-12, during which the Russian army brushed aside the U.S.-trained and -equipped Georgian regular army and occupied a third of the remote former Soviet republic in the Caucasus in only five days.

Russian warships set date for Venezuela visit

Russia's high-profile naval squadron mission to Venezuela will take place at the end of this month, RIA Novosti reported Friday.

The powerful missile cruiser Pyotr Veliky and the anti-submarine warfare warship Admiral Chabanenko from the Russian navy's Northern Fleet are scheduled to dock at Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, on Nov. 24. The weeklong visit will last until Nov. 30, the report said.

"A group of Russian warships will visit Caracas on Nov. 24 to 30, when the first joint naval exercises are due to take place," a spokesman for the Venezuelan Defense Ministry in Caracas announced, according to the RIA Novosti report.

The Pyotr Veliky and the Admiral Chabanenko are currently operating in the Mediterranean.

The Russian government is dramatically boosting its support and military ties with Venezuela. It has concluded enormous new arms deals with the government of fiercely anti-American President Hugo Chavez, and in September the Russian air force flew to Caracas two Tupolev Tu-160 supersonic nuclear bombers (NATO designation Blackjack), which are capable of firing a dozen nuclear-armed cruise missiles with a 2,000-mile range. The aircraft also spent a well publicized, high-profile week in Venezuela, and Chavez personally hosted their crews at a presidential reception.

Gadhafi seeks copter upkeep deal with Ukraine

Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi is returning to his old Cold War ways of trying to boost his weapons arsenal with purchases from Ukraine and possibly from Russia and other former Soviet republics.

RIA Novosti reported Thursday that Gadhafi, on a visit to the Ukrainian capital, Kiev, said he might purchase new weapons systems manufactured in Ukraine.

Gadhafi paid a three-day state visit to Kiev from Tuesday to Thursday on the last leg of a trip that had taken him to Belarus and Moscow, RIA Novosti said. It was the first time since the disintegration of the Soviet Union at the end of 1991 that Gadhafi had come to Ukraine.

"We have discussed military technical cooperation (with the Ukrainian leadership)," Gadhafi announced at a news conference in Kiev, according to the report. "We are interested in buying modern defensive weaponry for suitable prices," he stated.

RIA Novosti quoted Andriy Honcharuk, a deputy head of the staff of pro-American Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, as stating his government had agreed to launch a joint venture with Libya to service Ukrainian helicopters flying for the North African nation. "The joint venture will begin its work in the nearest future," he said.

RIA Novosti said Ukraine was listed as the 10th-largest weapons-selling nation in the world from 2003 to 2007, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. The report said half of Ukraine's arms exports still were sold to Russia and other former Soviet republics in the Russian-led Commonwealth of Independent States. Another 30 percent were sold to Southeast Asia and Africa, with 6 percent going to the Middle East.

In 2007 foreign arms sales of tanks, combat aircraft, artillery systems and missiles to 20 nations netted $1.2 billion for Kiev, the report said.