Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez arrived in Belarus on Friday as part of three-country non-aligned nation trip. The outspoken Venezuelan leader was scheduled to participate in one-on-one talks with Belarusian President Aleksander Lukashenko, who like Chavez has been shunned by Western governments, dpa reported. Chavez had visited Russia's parliament - the Duma - earlier in the day, and met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday. The Friday arrival in Minsk was Chavez's second visit to the former Soviet republic Belarus. His itinerary called for a subsequent stop in Iran - like Belarus a nation politically isolated from major Western nations. Belarus and Venezuela have seen an uptick in trade recently, with Belarusian industry providing the Venezuelan army night vision devices and an agreement for Belarusian energy companies to develop a Venezuelan oil field. Lukashenko and Chavez were set to chair a joint meeting of Belarusian and Venezuelan delegations later in the evening. During his visit to Moscow Chavez told reporters his country was interested in purchasing Russian diesel-electric submarines. He also called for greater cooperation between Venezuela's energy industry, and the Russian fossil fuel giants Gazprom and Lukoil.
