MADRID, August 20. /TASS/. Russia furnished Spain with data on the route of its naval ships and their plans to call at the port of the autonomous city of Ceuta, the Russian embassy in Madrid told reporters on Friday.

"As for the plans of the Russian naval ships Vice Admiral Kulakov and Altai to call at the Spanish port of Ceuta, we report that following the embassy’s inquiry about providing this possibility, the Spanish Foreign Ministry informed that in order to solve this issue positively it was necessary to furnish data on the point the ships will head after calling at the Spanish port of Ceuta," the Russian diplomatic mission explained.

"The required data was promptly furnished," it added. 

For its part, the Spanish Foreign Ministry claimed that Spain did not deny the Russian naval ships entry to the port of Ceuta. As the Spanish Foreign Ministry assured TASS, Russia allegedly failed to furnish the requested documentation, in particular, on the naval ships’ route, which was required to call at the Spanish port. As the ministry further said, this involved a routine protocol process.

As the newspaper El Confidencial earlier reported, the Spanish authorities thought over their reply to Russia’s request for its fleet’s refilling at the port of Ceuta. In the paper’s version, on the one hand, the Spanish authorities thought about allowing the Russian naval ships to enter the port of the autonomous city to reinvigorate its economy. On the other hand, as the paper reported, Madrid was set to host a summit of NATO heads of state and governments in 2022. Therefore, the permission for the Russian naval ships to call at the Spanish port might cause the alliance’s discontent, the paper claimed.

Ceuta is located on the northern coast of Morocco and enjoys the status of an autonomous city of Spain. Three ships of the Russian Northern Fleet’s carrier group lead by the heavy aircraft-carrying cruiser Admiral Kuznetsov were expected to call at Ceuta in the autumn of 2016. NATO expressed its concern at that time that the Russian carrier group might be used to deliver strikes on Aleppo in Syria. At the last moment, the Spanish Foreign Ministry announced that Madrid had allowed the Russian naval ships to call at the port of Ceuta at Moscow’s request. However, Russia withdrew its request.