Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-37779204

Why did the Spanish ever agree to any such refuelling in the first place? It's not like the request was made before all the tension between the EU/Nato and Russia flared up is it... :confused:

Anyway based on what I've seen of that aircraft carrier, London will be safe as it'd fall foul of the low emissions zone. I reckon it must be burning old oily blankets.. :D

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

Seems like the Spanish just didn't think. It's an interesting bit of geopolitics though how far Russia have to travel to get to Syria by sea. They're not really well positioned are they? Aren't Syrian ports one of the motivations for Russia to have Syria on side?

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

Does anyone think the UK or the US wouldn't have 'thought' about it? The Spanish can't help thinking about a tiny piece of rock called Gibraltar when it suits. Does this say something quite negative about the way in which Nato is viewed in parts of the EU and what message does it send to the likes of Trump? :shrug:

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

Ceuta is a Spanish enclave on the Moroccan coast. They probably thought nobody would notice, as it's not part of their mainland.

Can't help wondering what they might have said if we'd given permission for the Russkies to dock in Gibraltar. :D

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

Quite. They'd probably have turned it into yet another major diplomatic incident.

It's odd that on the one hand we have RN ships shadowing these warships in the Channel yet another Nato member didn't seem to think it was a problem refuelling them. Even if they thought 'nobody would notice', what does it say about their commitment to Nato at a time when relations with Russia are so poor? The Americans must be getting pretty fed up with this sort of attitude.

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

Probably the same Spanish double standards that they insist on wanting Gibraltar yet are quite happy to keep those enclaves on the North African coast.

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

I cant see what the fuss is about really. It was only 3 weeks ago that a Russian frigate and tanker stored and refuelled in Spain and the west didnt make a song and dance about that.
Peter the Great was in Limassol in 2014 getting repaired and refuelled and nobody mentioned that.
Plenty of non Nato ships use Nato ports and we`re not actually at war with russia.
As for old smokey joe that the media keeps mentioning, I reckon that was just sticking up 2 fingers to us, it wasnt smoking the last 2 days.

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

Things have changed a bit since 2014 and these vessels are heading to Syria which is why there's a big difference IMHO.

How many Nato warships refuel in Russian ports I wonder.

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

There'll be a two-fold motivation for this latest move.

1. Putin's penchant for creating a drama (whilst reminding us that the Northen Fleet is now effectively a floating Naval scrapyard)

2. They want to test out the new ground targeting system they've just started fitting to the SU33 which is their primary aircraft based aircraft of which they don't have that many. I guess is better than flinging dumb bombs all over the place. Either that or it'll allow them to bomb civilians more accurately (if it actually works)

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

Russian warships will not be refuelled in Malta, says Maltese foreign minister

No Russian warships will be refuelled in Malta on their way to Syria, the country's foreign minister has said, after Russia withdrew its request to refuel at a Spanish port amid international outrage.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/wo...-a7382901.html

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

The difference this time is it's an aircraft carrier carrying weapons that will be hitting syrian targets soon and Russia's record in syria is pretty dismal both in terms of it's airstrikes and their testing of new battlefield systems. Despite the guff coming out of the kremlin and their various social media propaganda channels syria has been a sobering experience for russia a number of weapon systems have failed to live upto expectation and their ground attacks have shown how far behind the west russia is.

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

It could have been agreed ages ago, and since then things have changed.

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

It could have been but so what? The circumstances changed much for the worse in Syria a whole lot before anyone in Spain seemed to realise there was a big problem looming. It's that lack of realisation which rung so many alarm bells in Nato.

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

Russian MOD just confirmed that they've lost one of their MIG29Ks in the Mediterranean. They're their latest carrier borne aircraft and they didn't have many to start with.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-37978463

Not much has been said just yet but it looks like some kind of landing or take-off mishap. The pilot is ok thankfully but I suspect he'll be invited for coffee with no biscuits by the captain.

Re: Russian warships won't refuel on Spanish territory
 

If the russians took the time to confirm the failings of their military gear it would need a new department with a few hundred full time workers, I'm guessing there were witnesses to this that russia couldn't rely on to not publicise it.