Russian President Valdimir Putin received a royal welcome amid tight security ahead of talks with Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and the signing of a RM3.4 billion arms deal.

Putin, who arrived late yesterday in this mainly Muslim Southeast Asian nation, was accorded a 21-gun salute as he was greeted in a ceremony at parliament by Malaysia's King Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin and Mahathir.

Malaysia, like Russia, was a strong opponent of the US-led invasion of Iraq, and the situation in that country is expected to be high on the agenda when Putin and Mahathir meet later in the day.

Mahathir has warned that the war will add to the perceived oppression of Muslims worldwide and fan the flames of global terrorism. Russia's conflict in predominantly Muslim Chechnya is also expected to feature in the talks.

Fighter jets

Before the formal meeting with Mahathir, Putin will address the Malaysia-Russia Business Council.

The centrepiece of the visit, however, is set to be the signing of an agreement to supply 18 Sukhoi Su-30MK fighter jets.

The combat aircraft form part of a major arms procurement spree by Malaysia, including a US$972 million deal last year to buy three French submarines.

The government of this rapidly-developing nation of 23 million people, ranked among the most developed of Muslim states, has also ordered British and Russian missile systems worth US$364 million and 48 attack tanks worth US$368 million from Poland.

The Su-30MKM will join Russian-made MiG-29Ns, US-made FA-18/Ds and British-made Hawks in Malaysia's combat aircraft fleet, officials said.

Analysts said Putin would use the trip to boost his country's position in the Asian arms market.

Under fire for its nuclear cooperation with Iran, Russia is not keen to further rile the United States by increasing its arms sales to the Islamic regime and is instead seeking alternate customers, they said.

Innocent country

The Sukhoi deal is a sign that Russia is turning back to Asia, after the relationship that flourished with the United States following the Sept 11 attacks cooled over the US-led war in Iraq, said analyst Viktor Kremenyuk of the USA-Canada Institute in Moscow.

"Russia abandoned this leaning (towards Asia) during its 'love affair' with the West - Putin has decided to revive it," he told AFP .

"He cannot go to Iran - a big market for Russian products - since this would be an anti-American challenge. Malaysia is a more innocent country in the eyes of the West," he said.

"Russia wants to get a piece of the high technology market, but the West doesn't let us," Kremenyuk said. "They have chased us out of Eastern Europe and out of Iraq."

Russian arms sales have been steadily rising, with a record US4.8 billion worth of sales last year - beating the previous record set in 2001 of US$4.4 billion. Sales of aircraft provided the bulk of Russian military sales, accounting for almost 70 percent.

Third leader

Putin was due to leave Malaysia shortly after midnight Tuesday following a state banquet.

He is the third leader from major countries opposed to the Iraq war - the so-called "coalition of the unwilling" - to travel to Malaysia in recent months.

German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder visited in May and was followed by French President Jacques Chirac in July.

Malaysia's ties with the United States, in contrast, have soured over Mahathir's outspoken criticism of the attack on Iraq. - AFP