Russia and Venezuela on Wednesday signed a joint deal to promote the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
Officials signed a series of deals in the presence of Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, who arrived in Caracas Wednesday, and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
Chavez has said that the cooperation will only concern civilian and peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin was first to propose nuclear cooperation with Venezuela when Chavez visited Moscow in September.
Medvedev's visit, the first by a Russian head of state to Venezuela, coincided with the arrival of a fleet of Russian warships for maneuvers in the Caribbean.
The two countries have signed 4.4 billion dollars in bilateral arms deals since 2005, including radars, 24 Sukhoi-30 planes, 50 helicopters and 100,000 Kalashnikov automatic rifles.
Venezuela installed the first atomic reactor in Latin America in 1957, which was built for scientific research and is now out of service.
