Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu expressed hope on Thursday that Moscow and Caracas would continue developing their military cooperation, and the Russian Armed Forces would be able to further use Venezuelan airfields and ports.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 06th December, 2018) Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu expressed hope on Thursday that Moscow and Caracas would continue developing their military cooperation, and the Russian Armed Forces would be able to further use Venezuelan airfields and ports."The cooperation is developing rather well. The work is underway in the area of education as well as in the area related to providing our military aircraft and our naval ships an opportunity to land and get maintenance service at Venezuela's airfields and ports. I believe that we will continue this practice as it benefits both Venezuela and Russia," Shoigu said at a meeting with his Venezuelan counterpart Padrino Lopez.
The defense industry cooperation between Russia and Venezuela is based on an intergovernmental agreement that was signed in May 2001 during the visit of then Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez to Moscow.
In May 2005, the countries signed a contract for the delivery of Russia's Kalashnikov AK-103 assault rifles to Venezuela. Venezuela has also acquired Russia's helicopters and Tor-M1 missile systems.
