UK Edition
The Spanish government must have breathed an enormous sigh of relief yesterday after Moscow withdrew its request to use a Spanish-controlled port to refuel the fleet of warships it has dispatched to bomb Syrian rebels in Aleppo. Spain, which regularly refuels Russian vessels at the Spanish-controlled enclave of Ceuta in Morocco, says it was unaware that the warships were making their way towards the eastern Mediterranean, where they are expected to support Russia’s military campaign against Syrian rebels.
UN officials have accused Moscow of committing war crimes in Syria following claims that Russian warplanes have used napalm and cluster bombs on civilians in Aleppo. By refuelling the Russian flotilla, Spain exposed itself to possible accusations that it was aiding and abetting Russian war crimes. Fortunately for Spain, Moscow withdrew its request after the Spanish foreign ministry made inquiries about the true purpose of the flotilla’s passage through the Mediterranean, thereby sparing Madrid’s blushes.
Spain is a leading member of the Nato alliance – the Spanish military made a significant contribution to the 2011 campaign to overthrow the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi. Therefore any assistance Madrid provided to Russia’s war machine would have put it at odds with other Nato member states, many of whom, such as the US, Britain and France, support the Syrian rebels’ campaign to overthrow the Russian-backed regime of Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Indeed, the fact that Spain came so close to provoking an open rift in Nato – the Spanish authorities only contacted Moscow after yesterday’s Telegraph report on Russia’s refuelling plans – highlights the dysfunctional nature of the West’s response to Russian acts of aggression, whether in Syria or elsewhere.
Following recent gains Moscow has made with its illegal annexation of Crimea and propping up the Assad regime, President Putin seems set on maintaining his antagonistic stance. After Moscow recently announced the deployment of nuclear-capable missiles to the Baltic region, the Kremlin said yesterday it was reinforcing its fleet there with two warships armed with long-range missiles to counter Nato’s planned military build-up in eastern Europe next year. In such circumstances it is vital that Nato’s 28-nation alliance presents a united front, if for no other reason than to deter any further acts of adventurism on the part of the Russian military.
The West must get its act together over Russia