"Let me put it this way: We shoot down MiGs," the official, who spoke to reporters at a White House-organized briefing on condition he not be named, replied when asked whether Washington was worried about such sales.

"It should be an issue of concern to the Venezuelan people. Millions of dollars are going to be spent on Russian weapons for ill-defined purposes," the official said.

Prodded on the purpose of such purchase, the official replied: "My understanding is that they're looking to upgrade their fighter fleet, and they've decided that MiGs might be the fighter to purchase."

White House national security spokesman Sean McCormack said Russian fighter jet sales to Russia "would be an issue we would monitor closely."

Asked about the anonymous official's "shoot down" comment, McCormack winced and said "I would leave that part out."

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez confirmed Friday, after a two-day visit to Russia, that Caracas would buy 40 military helicopters and an unspecified quantity of automatic weapons from Moscow.

The Financial Times reported Monday that this was expected to be followed by Venezuela's acquisition of a fleet of the most advanced model of the MiG-29 fighter jet.

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