MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The acquisition will help to transform Venezuela into an "incontestable homeland of peace and sovereign," Maduro said.
"Venezuela will soon get a welcome surprise as new aviation and air defense technologies will be delivered from China and Russia in order to continue the transformation of Venezuela into an incontestable homeland of peace and sovereign, independent and free state," Maduro said as quoted by the Ministry of Popular Power for Communication and Information.
In March, Anatoly Punchuk, a deputy head of the Russian Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation, said that a multi-billion-dollar package of contracts on the delivery of a wide range of weaponry and military equipment to Venezuela would be completed in 2016. The package of contracts signed in 2009 included armored tank equipment, missiles and artillery, air defense systems and other weaponry.