The arrival of Hugo Chávez to Russia was postponed to Tuesday
18 minutes ago

Moscow (AFP) - The president of Venezuela, Hugo Chávez, whose arrival in Moscow was initially scheduled this Monday night, will arrive on Tuesday morning for a two-day visit focusing on economic cooperation and military, announced on Monday a Russian diplomatic source.

The trip was postponed "at the initiative of the Venezuelan side,"
added the source without giving further details. Chavez will land on Tuesday toward 06H30 (02H30 GMT) in Moscow, in the first stage of a European tour which includes Belarus, Portugal and Spain.

"An agreement is planned for the purchase of only a submarine as
evidence," and already began discussions to which Venezuela buys air defense systems Tor-M1, the Russian daily Gazeta reported, quoting a source of Rosoboronexport, the monopoly export Russian arms.

However, this article points out that it is more likely that
agreements to be signed during Chavez's visit to Russia is intended for the purchase of military transport aircraft An-74 transport aircraft and regional passenger Il-114.

"Chavez is more likely to buy the planes in which he was interested during his previous visit," said Gazeta.

The Russian authorities also want to continue talks on building a
factory Kalashnikov assault rifles and a training center for
helicopter pilots in Venezuela, Gazeta said.

Shortly before, one of the war industry source told the Russian news agency Interfax that Venezuela wanted to buy 20 air defense systems Tor-M1 and three submarines with a total value of 1,000 million dollars (630 million euros).

The spokesman for Rosoboronexport, Viacheslav Davidenko, refused to comment on these allegations, stating: "wait until contracts are signed. The presidents are the ones who decide."

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