The Russian aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov near Norway last week. Moscow sent the carrier and several other vessels through the English Channel on Friday. CreditNorwegian Royal Airforce, via NTB Scanpix/Reuters
MADRID — Russia abruptly withdrew its application on Wednesday to dock three warships for refueling at a Spanish port, shortly after Spain’s partners in NATO urged Spain to turn away the vessels. The ships are heading to the eastern Mediterranean Sea to support Russian military operations in Syria.
Russia’s intention to dock the three warships, which were said to include its only aircraft carrier, the Soviet-era Admiral Kuznetsov, at Ceuta, a Spanish enclave on the north coast of Africa, was first reported in the Spanish news media on Tuesday evening.
The development set off alarm bells among the alliance defense ministers, who gathered in Brussels on Wednesday for a two-day meeting and warned Spain not to let the Russian ships dock.
“We’d be extremely concerned that any NATO member should consider assisting a Russian carrier group that might end up bombing Syrian civilians,” Britain’s defense secretary, Michael Fallon, told reporters. “On the contrary, NATO should be standing together.”
The Atlantic alliance’s secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, told reporters that while Russia had the right to operate in international waters, the situation at Ceuta was different because of concerns that the aircraft carrier group would mount strikes on the Syrian city of Aleppo.
“It is up to each nation to decide, as has been NATO policy for many years, but we are concerned about the potential use of this carrier group to increase attacks against civilians in Aleppo,” Mr. Stoltenberg said Wednesday morning. “All allies are aware of our concerns.”
Less than three hours later, the Spanish Foreign Ministry announced that Russia had withdrawn its request to dock the ships at Ceuta. “The government of Spain is following with extraordinary concern the bombing of Aleppo and the humanitarian tragedy that is going on,” the ministry said.
The Spanish government had granted permission last month for three ships to call at Ceuta between Oct. 28 and Nov. 2, as part of what Spain said was the normal port-of-call practice for Russian ships, which had been in effect “for years.”
The Interfax news agency quoted Leonid Slutsky, head of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs, as saying, “Moscow’s decision to recall the request for our military ships to enter the Spanish port of Ceuta is the only correct, unyielding and worthy one.”
Later on Wednesday, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement denying that Russia had ever requested permission for the aircraft carrier to refuel at Ceuta. The ministry’s statement said that Russia had considered having three other warships call at the port, but that Spain had balked because of pressure from the United States.
It was not immediately clear where the Russian ships would go instead to refuel. The non-NATO ports nearest to Ceuta are in Morocco and Algeria.
Russia sent the aircraft carrier and a group of supporting warships steaming toward the Mediterranean this month from bases on the Barents Sea, the Kremlin’s latest effort to demonstrate its military might. The flotilla passed through the English Channel on Friday.
Ceuta is one of two Spanish enclaves in North Africa. Russian naval vessels have called there a number of times to refuel for operations in the Mediterranean. The Yaroslav Mudry, a Russian frigate with a crew of about 250, made its fourth such visit to Ceuta earlier this month, according to local news reports.
Mr. Stoltenberg said Wednesday that the alliance was concerned about “assertive” exercises by Russia, including its movement of missiles with the capacity to carry nuclear warheads and its recent decision to suspend cooperation on plutonium disposal under a treaty with the United States.
He noted that Russia’s 2014 military intervention in Ukraine, including the annexation of Crimea, had led to a simmering conflict in the eastern part of that country, and he said that Russia’s support for Syria’s embattled president, Bashar al-Assad, was “deeply troubling.” He called the Syrian government forces’ attacks on homes and hospitals “disgraceful.”
Mr. Stoltenberg is scheduled on Thursday to meet with Federica Mogherini, the European Union’s top diplomat.
To bolster its eastern defenses, NATO has agreed to establish battalions of 800 to 1,200 multinational troops in four member nations in Eastern Europe — Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland — as well as a brigade of four battalions to be based in Bulgaria and Romania. Asked on Wednesday about those steps, Mr. Stoltenberg called them “defensive” and “proportionate,” and he noted that Russia had increased its military spending and used force in Georgia, Syria, Ukraine and elsewhere.
He said the alliance must respond to Russia in a responsible and measured way and should focus on “risk reduction” and “transparency” in its talks with the Kremlin.
Raphael Minder reported from Madrid, and Sewell Chan from London. Ivan Nechepurenko contributed reporting from Moscow, and Michael Wolgelenter from London.
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