Spain could send fighter jets to Bulgaria as fears mount over Russian invasion of the Ukraine

SPAIN could deploy fighter jets to Bulgaria as part of NATO plans to deter Russia from invading the Ukraine.

Defence Minister, Margarita Robles, said on Thursday that Spain could ‘possibly participate’ in such an air deployment.

“The position of Spain, and of NATO as a whole, is that the response be diplomatic and there is a de-escalation of the situation,” said Robles.

“The stance of all countries is clear and that is that Russia cannot tell any country what to do,” she added.

Robles confirmed that the Spanish Navy ship, the ‘Blas de Lezo’ is sailing earlier to the Black Sea than originally planned for a NATO exercise and will ‘arrive within three or four days’.

“Spain participates in all NATO deployments, and in this specific case, the departure of the frigate has been brought forward as agreed,” said Robles.

Another Spanish vessel, ‘Meteoro’ left Las Palmas in Gran Canaria on Monday to sail to the Black Sea as one of the lead ships in a scheduled NATO mission.