Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko told Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez that his country stood ready to support Venezuela's armed forces with "the most sophisticated weapons and military equipment," according to remarks translated by Venezuelan state TV.
The two countries agreed to cooperate in areas including "intelligence and counter-espionage issues," the use of drones and petroleum exploration technology, the moderator of the talks said.
Later, in a ceremony at the Miraflores Palace, President Nicolas Maduro said the 17 agreements would "seal and strengthen the path of union and cooperation" between Venezuela and Russia "from now until 2030 and beyond."
Russia is one of the few countries to have recognized leftist Maduro's claim to have won a third consecutive term in the July 28 election, which was disputed by the opposition and saw widespread protests break out after the poll.
The United States and several Latin American countries have backed opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the rightful winner, based on detailed election results published by the opposition.
Venezuelan election authorities aligned with Maduro have yet to release a breakdown of the vote.
Caracas drew closer to Moscow under socialist leader Hugo Chavez, who led the country on a hard-left, anti-US platform from 1999 until his death from cancer in 2013.
Those ties have endured under Chavez's hand-picked successor Maduro, who has defended Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
Venezuela has the world's largest proven reserves of oil and once produced more than three million barrels a day of oil -- long its only notable earner of foreign currency.
Following years of mismanagement and crushing sanctions, output has dropped to around one million barrels.
Greek tanker crippled by Huthi rebels starts oil transfer
Athens (AFP) Nov 7, 2024 -
A Greek oil tanker crippled by Yemen's Huthi rebels and towed to avert an environmental disaster began transferring its cargo of over a million barrels on Thursday, the state-run ANA news agency said.
The Sounion caught fire and lost power after being attacked on August 21 off the coast of Hodeida, a rebel-held port city.
The following day its 25-strong crew was rescued. The rebels claimed to have detonated charges on the ship's deck, sparking new fires.
ANA said the Sounion had begun transferring its cargo of 150,000 tons of crude to another tanker, Delta Blue, at a "safe anchorage" in the port of Suez.
"The vessel is at Suez, and as it's at a safe anchorage, we are no longer monitoring it," a source at Greece's merchant marine ministry told AFP.
Citing ministry sources, ANA said the operation began on Thursday and will last between three and four weeks.
In September, EU maritime safety body Aspides said the Sounion was not under its protection at the time of the attack.
The ship's original course "was a bit of a mystery", the ministry source told AFP. "We were told it was heading from Iraq to Singapore. If that were the case, how did it end up in the Red Sea?"
The operation to tow the vessel to safety in September required a tugboat escorted by three frigates, helicopters and a special forces team, ANA said.
Had the vessel broken up or exploded, it could have caused an oil spill four times larger than that caused by the Exxon Valdez in 1989 off Alaska, experts had warned.
The EU naval force was formed in February to protect merchant vessels in the Red Sea from attacks by Huthi rebels.
The Huthis have waged a campaign against international shipping to show solidarity with Hamas in its war with Israel in the Gaza Strip.
They have been firing drones and missiles at ships in the vital commercial route, saying they are targeting vessels linked to Israel, the US and Britain.
The United States, with the support of allies led by Britain, has carried out repeated air strikes on rebel bases in Yemen.
Related Links
All About Oil and Gas News at OilGasDaily.com
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
| Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters |
