MOSCOW  A top Russian Air Force official said that the government was weighing whether to base strategic bombers out of Cuban territory or on a Venezuelan island that has been offered by President Hugo Chávez, according to the Interfax news service.

In comments made at an awards ceremony on Friday night, Maj. Gen. Anatoly Zhikharev, chief of staff for Russia’s long-distance aviation division, told reporters that either option would be practical.

“There are four or five airfields in Cuba with 4,000-meter-long runways, which absolutely suit us,” he said. “If the two chiefs of state display such a political will, we are ready to fly there.”

He confirmed that Mr. Chávez had offered the use of a military airfield on La Orchila island. “If a relevant political decision is made, this is possible,” he said.