MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has shrugged off Washington's warnings against Russian arms sales to Venezuela, saying the deal was a bilateral issue in line with international law.

The US State Department said last Thursday it is "extremely troubled" by Russian arms deliveries to Venezuela that reportedly include 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles and aircraft, signalling concern that some of the weapons might be turned over to leftist rebels in neighbouring Colombia.

Spokesman Adam Ereli said weaponry could have a "destabilising effect" on the hemisphere. He added that the United States has raised the issue with Russia on a number of occasions.

Asked about the US statement, Lavrov said that the weapons deal was in line with international law.

"There is nothing to comment about," Lavrov told reporters. "This is part of bilateral ties between Russia and Venezuela, and it doesn't contradict any international norms or international obligations of Russia and Venezuela."

The Interfax news agency last Friday also quoted an unidentified Russian diplomat who said that Moscow was surprised to hear the US complaints against the deal which he described as "biased and unfounded."

Retired General Leonid Ivashev, the former head of the Defence Ministry's international military co-operation department, said that by complaining against the deal Washington was seeking to sideline a competitor in the arms market.

"This is an attempt to make Russia feel humiliated and show to the world that Russia is subject to US policy," Ivashev said, according to Interfax. "This policy is aimed not only at squeezing Russia out of the weapons market, but at reducing its political influence in the region of Latin America and the whole world."

Earlier this week, the chief of Russia's state arms-trading company said that Moscow will sign a deal with Washington to tighten control over portable anti-aircraft missiles at a presidential summit in Slovakia later this month, but will not restrict sales of other weapons to countries that are out of favour with the United States.

Rosoboronexport chief Sergei Chemezov said that his company was strictly observing international law while selling weapons abroad, but warned that it wouldn't obey US recommendations.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has developed friendly ties with Russia's President Vladimir Putin and expressed a strong interest in purchasing Russian weapons.

The Venezuelan ambassador to Moscow, Carlos Mendoza Pottella, angrily dismissed US objections against Russian weapons sales to his nation in last Friday's interview with the ITAR-Tass news agency. "Some people believe that only American weapons never fall into terrorists' hands - it's absurd," he was quoted as saying.

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