A US government spokesman on Friday made light of Venezuela's pursuit of cooperation with Russia on space, saying that the South American nation would do better to look at "terrestrial" concerns.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is visiting Latin America's largest oil producer for talks with leftist firebrand leader Hugo Chavez in a bid to deepen military, energy and financial relations between the countries.
State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said that the two nations had the right to pursue relations with whichever nations they chose, but questioned Venezuela's priorities.
"I think in the meeting there was some suggestion of space travel by Venezuela," Crowley said.
"We would note that the government of Venezuela was largely closed this week due to energy shortages and to the extent that Venezuela is going to extend resources on behalf of its people, perhaps the focus should be more terrestrial than extraterrestrial."
The United States has earlier voiced concern about Venezuela's military agreements with Russia, which have totaled 4.4 billion dollars since 2005.
Chavez frequently heaps scorn on the United States and last week, in announcing Putin's visit, thanked Russia for helping Venezuela defend against "threats" from the United States.
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