MOSCOW - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Wednesday that his oil-rich nation will sign major arms deals in Moscow to acquire Russian fighter jets and produce Kalashnikov assault rifles, and he slammed U.S. criticism of the weapons sales. Chavez said contracts to buy Su-30 jets and set up Kalashnikov rifle and ammunition plants in Venezuela would be signed Thursday in Moscow, the Interfax news agency reported. "I want to thank President Putin for his firmness in cooperating with increasing Venezuela's defense and security," Chavez said at Moscow's Vnukovo Airport. "We have thwarted the goal of the empire of the United...