the King of Spain, who was seated next to Rodríguez Zapatero, shouted at Chávez 'Why don't you shut up?'. This diplomatic incident increased the tension between Spain and the Venezuelan government. In the days that followed, the Spanish government tried to defuse the tension and play down the clash, while Chávez was increasing tensions through repeated statements about the incident, affirming, on 14 November, that "Spanish companies are going to have to start being more accountable and that I am going to keep an eye on them to see what they are doing here, on all the Spanish companies that are in Venezuela", which was seen as a threat to Spanish business interests in Venezuela. Russia Russian-Venezuelan relations were tightened during the reign of Chavez with energy and military cooperation. The latter led to joint exercises between the two militaries and a visit by a Russian naval ship to Venezuela. Furthermore, Venezuela also acquired billions of dollars of arms from Russia . Following Chavez's two visits to Moscow in July and September 2008, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Igor Sechin arrived in Venezuela to pave the way for a third meeting within five months between their two presidents. In November 2008, Venezuela and Russia discussed 46 potential cooperation agreements during an Intergovernmental Commission. Venezuelan Vice President Ramón Carrizales and Sechin reviewed a series of initiatives that Chavez and Russian President Dimitri Medvedev would sign later in the month. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro added to aggressive foreign policy initiatives sought by Chavez in saying that "the unipolar world is collapsing and finishing in all aspects, and the alliance with Russia is part of that effort to build a multipolar world." The two countries discussed the creation of a bi-national investment bank, the opening of a direct air route between Caracas and Moscow, the building of an aluminum plant, the construction of a gas platform off the Venezuelan coast, plans for automobile production, and Venezuela's acquisition of Russian planes and ships. While the two countries also reached agreements on the development of outer space and the use of nuclear energy. Maduro added that the two countries "will develop all what has to do with technology and satellite in the space", while still continuing to work at using nuclear energy with peaceful means to generate alternative energy. Venezuela sought to develop mines at its largest gold deposits with help from Russia. Venezuelan Mining