<h6><strong>Eduardo González</strong></h6> <h4><strong>Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares held his first virtual conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Wednesday, with whom he discussed, among other issues, “the importance of the transatlantic bond and dialogue and cooperation in security and trade.”</strong></h4> “Excellent conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio,” Albares wrote on social media. “We discussed Spain-United States relations, the importance of the transatlantic bond, and dialogue and cooperation in security and trade,” he continued. “We also discussed our ties with Latin America,” he added. The conversation was conducted online, according to diplomatic sources who spoke to <em>The Diplomat.</em> This is Albares’ first conversation with Rubio since the latter took office on January 21. During this time, the Secretary of State had already spoken in person or by telephone with nearly 100 of his counterparts or leaders from different countries, but he had not yet spoken with his Spanish counterpart. José Manuel Albares will meet again with Marco Rubio on Thursday and Friday of this week at the NATO ministerial meeting. This is the second time he has met with the US Secretary of State at a multilateral event. The previous meeting took place on February 14-16 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.
