Spanish, German leaders meet amid questions over air defence talks

By David Latona

MADRID (Reuters) -German and Spanish leaders will seek to discuss plans for a German-led European missile defence system when they meet on Wednesday, the German ambassador to Spain said, though Spain later ruled out any talks on the topic.

Maria Margarete Gosse told Spain's Cadena SER radio station late on Tuesday there had already been "low-level" talks between the two NATO members about Spain joining the initiative, adding: "It is an issue that will certainly be discussed at the summit."

The topic was trailed on Spanish news website El Confidencial and its biggest-selling newspaper El Pais, alongside an interview with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

But on Wednesday, hours before Scholz and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez were due to meet in the northern Spanish city of La Coruna, the Madrid government said the topic was not on the agenda.

Defence Minister Margarita Robles told reporters she believed the plans were still being studied by Germany.

"Neither has Chancellor Scholz sent it to La Moncloa (the Spanish prime minister's office) nor has the (German) defence minister sent me any proposal," Robles said.

"We have many points in common with Germany that we are going to discuss this afternoon...But as for the other proposal, I am completely unaware of it."

A German government spokesman in Berlin said it was "not clear" whether the topic would on the agenda.

During a speech in Prague in August, Scholz proposed creating a missile defence system in northern and eastern Europe, calling it as "a security gain for the whole of Europe".

In September, German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht said in a Reuters interview that Berlin aimed to strike a deal with other NATO countries on the air defence system at a meeting in Brussels on Oct. 12-13.

The main focus of the Sanchez-Scholz talks in La Coruna was expected to be on Europe's energy crisis triggered by the war in Ukraine and joint projects in areas like higher education.

Spain's socialist-led government on Tuesday unveiled a draft budget after fraught talks with far-left coalition ally Unidas Podemos, which sought extended social spending in return for approving a rise in defence spending to meet NATO expectations.

(Reporting by David Latona; Editing by Aislinn Laing, Robert Birsel and Mark Heinrich)