Spain's possible closure of its ports for Russia to affect civilian ships - Russian ambassador

MOSCOW. Feb 28 (Interfax) - Spain's possible closure of its ports for Russian ships will affect civilian ships, but in general, the volume of maritime traffic between the two countries is not so substantial, Russian Ambassador to Spain Yury Korchagin said on Monday.

"No decision has been made yet. This is an initiative that is being worked out," he said on the Rossiya-24 television channel.

"Of course, there will be consequences for those vessels that were planning to call at Spanish ports. For civilian vessels," Korchagin said, commenting on the possible severity of the effects of such a decision.

He noted that naval ships, which used to visit Spanish ports, "have not called at Spanish ports for a long time."

Asked whether the volume of maritime traffic and cargo shipments between the two countries was large, the Russian ambassador said, "No, not very big. There are European countries where there is much more traffic than with Spain."