<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares described the telephone conversation held last Friday between US Undersecretary of State Christopher Landau and State Secretary for Foreign and Global Affairs Diego Martínez Belío as "very cordial." This conversation, in which Rubio's deputy asked Spain to increase its defense spending, was "very cordial."</strong></h4> "The call was in a very cordial tone, exactly the same as the one President (Pedro) Sánchez had with President (Donald) Trump, exactly the same as my conversation with General (Keith) Kellogg (Trump's envoy for Ukraine and Gaza) during the Munich security conference," Albares stated at the press conference following the Council of Ministers. This tone, he added, is "normal between two countries that are allies and bilateral partners in multiple sectors." On March 28, Christopher Landau held a telephone conversation with Diego Martínez Belío in which he “reaffirmed the strength of the partnership between the United States and Spain and called on Spain to increase its defense spending in line with its NATO commitments,” according to the U.S. State Department. They also discussed deepening bilateral ties “across a wide range of mutual interests, including strengthening cooperation on migration.” “The conversation covered multiple aspects, because the relationship between Spain and the United States is very close, and it is only natural that two NATO allies, at a time when European and Euro-Atlantic security are being openly challenged by a war of aggression on European soil by Russia against Ukraine, would talk about that security,” Albares stated. According to Albares, the Spanish government has “no problem, and all these conversations demonstrate this, in maintaining all necessary contacts with the new U.S. administration.” "What we hope is that this transatlantic bond, which has been so beneficial for both the United States and Europe, will be maintained and strengthened," the minister added. He expressed his hope, which he conveyed to the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas, that US Secretary of State Marco Rubio accept the invitation extended by the EU Foreign Affairs Council and meet with his European counterparts in Brussels "as soon as possible." José Manuel Albares will meet again with Marco Rubio on Thursday and Friday of this week at the NATO ministerial meeting, but he did not specify in the press conference whether there will be a bilateral meeting with the Secretary of State on the sidelines of the meeting in Brussels. This is the second time he has met with the US Secretary of State at a multilateral event. The previous meeting took place from February 14 to 16 in Munich, on the occasion of the Security Conference, the most important annual meeting on this subject in the world, but on that occasion, a first bilateral meeting was not possible. Since taking office on January 21, Marco Rubio has already held face-to-face or telephone conversations with nearly 100 of his counterparts or leaders from different countries, but he has yet to do so with José Manuel Albares.
