Venezuela and the Russian Federation have reaffirmed their intent to boost bilateral defence cooperation during an official visit to Moscow by Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. During the 22 July visit - his sixth since taking office-Chavez called for the two countries to become strategic partners in oil and defence, a move he said would "guarantee Venezuela's sovereignty, which is currently being threatened". Chavez also spoke favourably of creating "a strategic alliance" with Moscow. In closed-door talks with Chavez, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin expressed a similar wish for stronger military ties between the two countries. "We have recently been consolidating the legal base for our co-operation, searching for ways to diversify our relations through new co-operation areas, namely transport, space, high-techr-nology production and of course military and technical co-operation," Putin said, according to local press reports.
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