Russia planning military upgrade
Medvedev also makes overtures to Venezuela
MOSCOW – Russia announced ambitious plans Friday to enhance its armed forces and nuclear arsenal while extending a $1 billion loan to Venezuela to purchase arms and exploring the possibility of forming a gas cartel with the Latin American nation.
Speaking during a meeting with commanders following military exercises in southern Russia, President Dmitry Medvedev cited the nation’s recent war with Georgia in calling for an urgent drive to upgrade Russian military capabilities within 12 years, including the country’s ability to deter nuclear attacks.
Medvedev pledged to improve pay for soldiers, mass produce nuclear submarines carrying cruise missiles and build “an air- and space-defense system,” according to a statement released by the Kremlin. “The developments in South Ossetia made the acuteness of these issues more apparent,” he said, referring to the breakaway Georgian region at the center of last month’s war.
The Russian government had previously announced plans to boost military spending 26 percent next year to a new high in the post-Soviet era.
Earlier in the day, Medvedev met with visiting President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and announced agreements intended to boost energy cooperation between the two countries, both of which have significant oil and gas reserves and have sought to challenge U.S. influence in the world.
Medvedev and Chavez discussed the possibility of establishing a cartel, the Interfax news agency reported, but analysts said neither nation had the resources or technology needed to dominate global markets.
In a separate statement, the Kremlin also disclosed plans to lend $1 billion to Venezuela for the purchase of Russian arms. The state-run news agency RIA Novosti reported that talks were under way on the sale of antiaircraft systems and armored personnel carriers to Venezuela.
The visit to Russia by Chavez, his second in two months, comes shortly after two Russian bombers made a brief training visit to Venezuela and as Russian warships are sailing to the Caribbean Sea for joint exercises with the Venezuelan navy.
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice ridiculed the exercises as an outdated attempt by the Kremlin to assert its military power that only highlighted Russia’s increasing isolation.
The United States and the European Union have condemned Russia’s invasion of Georgia and said its recognition of South Ossetia and another separatist enclave, Abkhazia, as independent states represented an attempt to redraw international borders by military force. Russia has vigorously defended its actions, saying it attacked Georgia only after a Georgian offensive against South Ossetia that left Russian peacekeepers dead and amounted to “genocide” against residents.