Russia pledges closer ties with US foe Venezuela

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Venezuela's Hugo Chavez agreed to draft an energy pact on Friday, drawing Moscow closer to Washington's most ardent Latin American foe.

Mr Chavez, known for his anti-US rhetoric, hosted a visit by Russian bomber planes to Venezuela this month and Russian warships will hold exercises there in November, the first such manoeuvres in the Americas since the Cold War.

The establishment of closer ties between the two countries - including two visits by Mr Chavez to Moscow since July - followed a rift between Moscow and Washington over Russia's brief war with its neighbour Georgia last month.

Russia announced last week it was making available to Venezuela a €685 million loan to cover purchases of arms and military equipment from Russian manufacturers.

With Mr Medvedev and Mr Chavez watching, Russia's Gazprom gas giant signed a memorandum of understanding with Venezuela's PDVSA state oil firm and the two countries' energy ministers agreed to draw up an energy cooperation pact. "Esteemed President, dear Hugo, I am glad to greet the delegation of our friend Venezuela," a smiling Mr Medvedev said as he greeted Mr Chavez at the start of their talks in the town of Orenburg in the southern Urals.

"This dynamic in our relationship points to the solid foundation of our ties," Mr Medvedev said. "Our cooperation is multi-faceted... it includes economic and military ties."

Mr Chavez expressed his "full, modest but firm support" for Moscow's military intervention in Georgia, although Venezuela did not match Russia's recognition of Georgia's separatist South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions as independent states.

Western governments accused Russia of acting disproportionately when it launched a massive counter-attack to crush an attempt by Georgian forces to retake South Ossetia.