Minister, Rodolfo Sanz, told a Russian delegation that a memorandum of understanding would be signed with the Russian-owned Rusoro to operate the Las Cristinas and Brisas mine projects with the Venezuelan government. The former, one of Latin America's largest gold projects, was under contract to Canada's Crystallex, which had waited in vain for years for an environmental license to start mining. The minister, however, said the government was taking control of the mine to start work in 2009. Further ties were in the offing when Chavez said an agreement for the Humberto Fernandez Moran Nuclear Facility would be signed upon Russian President Medvedev's visit to Venezuela accompanied by a Russian fleet of warships in mid to late-November 2008. Chavez also revealed that Russian nuclear technicians were already at work in Venezuela. As a Russian flotilla, including the nuclear-powered warship Peter the Great, was on its way to the Caribbean for naval exercises with Venezuela, analysts saw the move as a geopolitical response to US support for Georgia following the Russo-Georgian War. In September 2009, Venezuela became one of three nations worldwide to recognize South Ossetia and Abkhazia as countries independent of Georgia. Russia is one of the other two. Russian fighter jets have also been sold to Venezuela, while Caracas bought 100,000 Kalashnikov assault rifles for its military. However, the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Sergei Ryabkov downplayed the relevance of such moves "It looks like everyone has been accustomed for a long time to our warships being in naval bases and our warplanes in hangars, and thinking it will be like that forever", Ryabkov stated. On 27 July 2006, Hugo Chávez and Russian president Vladimir Putin announced an agreement in Moscow which enabled the import of military equipment from Russia to Venezuela. In October 2010, Chavez visited Russia where he signed a deal to build Venezuela's first nuclear power plant. Serbia On 21 February 2008 Hugo Chávez said that Venezuela will not recognize an independent Kosovo, warning that the southeastern European nation's separation from Serbia could spark war in the Balkans and that it could end in a disaster. He said "This cannot be accepted. It's a very dangerous precedent for the entire world.". He compared the situation with separatists in Zulia State and Santa Cruz Department in Bolivia. He called Kosovo a region of Serbia which is recognized by history and geography. He attributed the decision of the Kosovars