Venezuela has become an important customer of Russian weapons, a senior government official said when announcing a record sale of armament in 2005, AP reported.
 
Mikhail Dmitriyev, the head of the Federal Service for Military and Technical Cooperation, advised that Russia could sell MiG strike aircraft to Venezuela.

Queried about Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez' remarks on the possibility of buying MiG's, Dmitriyev answered that no concrete deal has been made. However, "if Venezuela desires to procure MiG's, we are ready to cooperate," he noted.

According to the official, Russia is also determined to open a maintenance site for any weapons to be sold to Venezuela.

Venezuela bought recently 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles. The United States strongly rejected the move when President Chávez suggested the possibility of arming one million people.

For his part, Army Commander Raúl Isaías Baduel declared Thursday in La Victoria, a major city of central Aragua state, that by the first quarter of 2006 three Russian-made, MI-17 choppers will arrive in Venezuela. The aircraft is to be used in military defense, keep internal law and order and engage the army in domestic development, official news agency ABN reported.