Spain - Cancellation of Russian destroyer KULAKOW

After the Spanish defence minister had provisionally agreed to the supply stopover of the destroyer VIZEADMIRAL KULAKOW (UDALOY class), which belongs to the Russian Northern Fleet, and its escort tug ALTAY in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta on the north coast of Morocco, which had been requested for the end of August, the foreign minister José Manuel Albares, who had just taken over in June, cancelled the project at short notice. He had not received an answer from Russia to his question about the association's further plans after the supply had been made - and immediately lowered the barrier of "goodwill" again. Two other points can also be seen as background: Firstly, Madrid wants to take a somewhat tougher stance towards the autonomous enclave - particularly in matters relating to the treatment of refugees. Secondly, Spain will be hosting the NATO summit next year, the 40th anniversary of its membership of the alliance. The summit after next - as agreed by the heads of government in the middle of the year - is to take place in Lithuania, right on Russia's doorstep. However, the cancellation of a supply port at short notice is also annoying, both for the Russian leader, who must quickly conjure up an alternative solution (which should not be particularly difficult in northern Africa), and for the city of Ceuta. It made between 300 and 400 euros per person from the more than 10,000 crew members of the Russian ships between 2010 and 2016.

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