Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has signed a series of key energy deals with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez during a visit to the capital, Caracas.

俄罗斯总理弗拉基米尔·普京在出访委内瑞拉首都加拉加斯期间，与其总统乌戈·查韦斯签署一系列关键性的能源协议。

Mr Putin (left) was given a sword used by independence hero Simon Bolivar

Mr Chavez said Russia had agreed to help Venezuela with a nuclear power plant and on building a space industry.

However, the Venezuelan leader, a long-time adversary¹（对手，敌手） of Washington, insisted that "we are not building an alliance（联盟，联合） against the United States".

Bolivian President Evo Morales was also invited to meet Mr Putin in Caracas.

'Important day'

The BBC's Will Grant in Caracas says Mr Putin is perhaps Venezuela's most important visitor since US President Bill Clinton in 1999.

Our correspondent says the Venezuelan government is sending a message that it now has other powerful friends who share common bonds in energy, military hardware and international relations.

The Russian leader gave Mr Chavez a multi-million-dollar down payment（头期款，预付定金） for oil exploration rights in the Orinoco River Belt.

Mr Chavez added: "Russia offers help so that Venezuela can have its own industry for the use of outer space.

"We could install a satellite launcher here and a factory. We are already doing so with China, but Russia is offering to support Venezuela build its own [space] industry."

In a televised speech ahead of Mr Putin's arrival, Mr Chavez said: "This is a truly important day for the country and for Latin America. It is a visit of great importance. We are forging（锻造，打制） , like steel, a new multi-polar world."

At a joint² news conference after their meeting, the Venezuelan leader said: "We are prepared to begin drawing up the first project for a nuclear power generator³, obviously for peaceful purposes.

"We aren't going to make an atomic bomb," he added.

Venezuela has recently suffered widespread power cuts and is looking to nuclear power as a solution.

US state department spokesman P J Crowley said that "to the extent that Venezuela is going to expend⁴ resources on behalf of its people, perhaps the focus should be more terrestrial（陆地的，陆生的） than extraterrestrial（地球外的） ".

The US has expressed concern at Venezuela's purchase of weapons from Russia. However, no new deals have yet been announced.

Mr Chavez insisted: "We are not building an alliance against the United States. We don't care what Washington thinks."

Mr Morales was expected to seek Russian loans to purchase military hardware and to discuss gas and oil exploration in Bolivia.