New York Times: Under NATO pressure, Russia withdraws bid to dock ships at Spanish port

Published Oct. 26, 2016 at 5:23 pm

In a handout picture released on Oct. 20, 2016 by the British Ministry of Defence via their Defence News Imagery website and taken on Oct. 19, 2016 the British Royal Navy's HMS Richmond (R), a Type 23 Duke Class frigate, sails to escort the Russian Task Group, which includes the aircraft carrier, Admiral Kuznetsov (L), as the Russian vessels transit to the Mediterranean Sea.

MADRID – Russia abruptly withdrew its application on October 26 to dock three warships at a Spanish port, shortly after Spain’s partners in NATO urged it to turn away the vessels. The ships were heading to the Mediterranean Sea to support the bombing of Aleppo, Syria.

The effort by Russia to dock the three warships, including 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.