MIAMI, July 23 (UPI) -- Venezuela and Russia forged new energy ties Tuesday and discussed a possible military alliance between Moscow and Caracas on Venezuelan soil.

While visiting his Russian counterpart in Moscow, ever-outspoken leftist President Hugo Chavez said Venezuela's future sovereignty depended on relationships with countries like Russia, from which South America's largest oil exporter has purchased billions of dollars in arms including 1 million assault rifles and five submarines, as well as assorted military aircraft.

On the energy front, Russia's LUKoil and Venezuela's state-run PDVSA signed a two-year deal to explore the Junin-3 heavy oil deposit in Venezuela's most coveted oil field, the Orinoco Reserve.

Tuesday's deal finalizes an earlier agreement in September when LUKoil also agreed to build a refinery in Venezuela following a thorough exploration of the Junin-3 block.

While details about a future refinery in Venezuela were not made public, Chavez appeared pleased with the outcome of the first day of two-day talks with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev.