"This is an issue that concerns Russian-Venezuelan relations and does not violate international norms nor Russia's international obligations," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told reporters.

The State Department said Thursday it was very troubled by Venezuela's arms purchases from Russia, which according to a report in The Washington Times has agreed to sell 100,000 AK-47 rifles to Caracas.

The weapons could have a "destabilizing effect" on the hemisphere, said State Department spokesman Adam Ereli, adding that the United States had raised the issue with Russia several times.

However, a top Russian foreign ministry official accused the United States of interfering in legitimate arms sales and said its fears that the weapons could fall into the hands of criminals were "unfounded."

"On that basis you could raise concerns against just about any weapons sold on the international market, including those made in the United States," the ministry's deputy spokesman Mikhail Troyansky, told the Moscow Echo radio.

Oil-rich Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez, who has tense ties with Washington because of his radical left-wing policies and support for Cuba, has built closer ties with Russia, which he visited last November.

In addition to automatic weapons, Russia is believed to be negotiating a contract to sell Venezuela MiG-29 high-performance fighter jets.

The issue is likely to be raised when US President George W. Bush meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a fortnight in Slovakia.

Venezuela recently was embroiled in a dispute with Colombia after Bogota paid Venezuelan soldiers to snatch a leader of the FARC leftist guerrilla group living in Caracas.

The United States suspects Chavez of tolerating the group, which is designated by Washington as a terrorist organization.