OREANDA-NEWS. The Spanish Foreign Ministry did not allow Russian warships to dock in the port of Ceuta on the northern coast of Africa, according to the Pais newspaper.

According to the newspaper, the Russian side requested permission for August 18-20 for the large anti-submarine ship "Vice-Admiral Kulakov" and the tug "Altai".

The Spanish Ministry of Defense did not see any obstacles to issuing the document, but the country's Foreign Ministry additionally asked Moscow about the ultimate goal of the campaign.

The newspaper believes that the ministry thus wanted to avoid any conflict situation related to the route of the Russian ships. Having received no response, the Spanish Foreign Ministry rejected the application.

The article talks about the political nature of this decision, which was primarily influenced by the position of Madrid as the future organizer of the NATO summit in the spring of 2022.

At the beginning of 2017, Spain did not allow a Russian aircraft carrier group headed by the Admiral Kuznetsov heavy cruiser to enter Ceuta. Then, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Spanish side made it clear that because of the pressure on it from the United States and NATO, the entry of Russian ships into Ceuta was inappropriate.