MADRID, May 8 (Reuters) - The United States will
increase its destroyers based in southern Spain to six from four
under an agreement to strengthen their bilateral strategic
relationship, the countries said on Monday.
The agreement follows the commitment last June by U.S.
President Joe Biden and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez at
a meeting held on the margins of the NATO Summit in Madrid.
The U.S. destroyers based at the Rota naval base in Cadiz
are the only ones with a permanent home port in Europe. The
ships are positioned to make daily operations in various
missions, including ballistic missile defence and anti-aircraft
warfare, the U.S. embassy said in a statement.
The destroyers will be deployed without modifying the
missions, types of forces or maximum force levels of U.S.
civilian and military personnel authorised under the Defence
Cooperation Agreement, the Spanish Defence Ministry said.
Sanchez is due to travel to Washington to meet with Biden on
Friday.
The agenda includes their strong mutual support for Ukraine
against Russia, interest in deepening cooperation in Latin
America and the Caribbean, and Spain taking over the rotating
presidency of the Council of the European Union from July to
December.
(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; Editing by Aislinn Laing and
Richard Chang)
Messaging: Reuters Messaging:
jesus.aguado.reuters.com@reuters.net))
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.