Russia to loan Chavez $1 billion for arms

MOSCOW, Sept. 26 (UPI) -- Russia will loan Venezuela $1 billion for weapons purchases and military development, a Russian official said Friday.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is on his second visit to Russia in two months. He met with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin on Thursday, and on Friday met with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev, The New York Times reported.

An unnamed Kremlin official said the billion-dollar deal will help the Venezuelan military to boost its technological capabilities. The spokesman did not reportedly elaborate on the details of the deal.

Between 2005 and 2007, Venezuela signed 12 contracts for weapons purchases from Russia. The deals totaled more than $4.4 billion, a government statement said.

Earlier this month, two Russian Tu-160 long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons were welcomed in Venezuela. Russian planes also plan to take part in joint naval exercises with the Venezuelan Navy sometime in November.

"Latin America, of course, is becoming an obvious link in the chain making up a multi-polar world," Putin said during his meeting with Chavez. "We will allocate more and more attention to this vector of our economics and foreign policy."