Russia scraps attempt to refuel aircraft carrier
EUROPE: RUSSIA has pulled out of an attempt to refuel warships in Spanish territory after an international outcry over the Nato member’s port being used to support a flotilla that is expected to join bombing raids in Syria.
Britain had pressed Madrid to withdraw permission for the stopover, which was initially granted for three of the seven vessels that are escorting President Vladimir Putin’s ageing aircraft carrier from Russia to the eastern Mediterranean.
Jens Stoltenberg, the head of Nato, also expressed concern. Nato sources said that the Kremlin may simply have been testing the alliance’s response to the passage of the Admiral Kuznetsov, which is carrying bombs and warplanes and is widely expected to be used to bolster Russia’s firepower over the besieged city of Aleppo in support of President Bashar al- Assad.
Russia is also causing alarm on Nato’s eastern flank with the build-up of warships armed with nuclear-capable missiles. Sweden and Poland expressed concern yesterday about the movement of two Russian corvettes into the Baltic Sea.
Russian media reported that a further three such ships would be added to the Baltic fleet by the end of the decade.
The carrier group on the way to the eastern Mediterranean does not need to stop at a port to refuel because the flotilla includes a tanker. This enables the ships to refuel at sea - an exercise that was conducted in the North Sea last week.
‘‘We think their tanker is pretty full, which is why we thought it was odd that they wanted to go in,’’ one Nato source said. ‘‘It may just have been an exercise in getting clearance because it is harder to get it and not need it than need it and not have it.’’
The Spanish foreign ministry said that last month it had granted permission to the tanker and two escort vessels from the carrier group to refuel between October 28 and November 2 at the port of Ceuta in Africa on the south side of the Strait of Gibraltar.
‘‘After information emerged that these warships might possibly be supporting aggressive action in the Syrian city of Aleppo, the Spanish foreign ministry requested information from the embassy of the Russian federation in Madrid about these claims,’’ a spokesman said.
This prompted the embassy to cancel its stopover request. Spain’s decision to grant refuelling permission to such a controversial Russian deployment raised eyebrows and underlined the differing opinions within the 28-nation Nato alliance over how to tackle a resurgent Russia.
Putin’s decision to send the Admiral Kuznetsov to the eastern Mediterranean is seen as an attempt to demonstrate Russia’s ability to project power, rather than as a critical element of the Russian campaign in Syria.
‘‘They just want to get to the eastern Med, fly a few missions, flex some muscles,’’ the Nato source said.
Concern has been raised about the capability of the aircraft carrier, which can hold more than 50 aircraft and is reported to be carrying MiG-29KR and MiG29KUBR jets, Su-33 fighters and Ka-52K assault helicopters.
Any Nato aircraft carrier about to embark on a bombing mission would be putting the pilots through a gruelling routine of training on their aircraft, practising take off and landing at different times. The aircrew aboard the Russian carrier, however, have been having a relatively quiet time.
‘‘They still don’t seem to be flying as much as we would have thought,’’ the Nato source said.