Russia on Thursday warned Turkey against deploying surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria, saying it should instead use its influence to help broker peace in the war-torn country.
"The militarization of the Syrian-Turkish border is of course a worrying sign," Russian foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
Turkey, he said, should use its influence with the Syrian opposition to help the two sides in the civil war start a dialogue as soon as possible instead of "flexing muscles and placing the situation on a dangerous course."
Lukashevich's statements came after NATO ambassadors met Wednesday to consider a Turkish request for the deployment of Patriot missiles near its border with Syria as the conflict in its southern neighbor deepens.
The move highlights Ankara's fears that the situation on its border could deteriorate rapidly and echoes its calls for military support during the two Gulf Wars, when NATO deployed surface-to-air missiles on its soil in 1991 and 2003.
Turkey formally made the request after weeks of talks with NATO allies about how to shore up security on its 900-kilometer border. The head of NATO said the alliance would discuss the request "without delay." Ambassadors from the 28 NATO members convened a meeting at the military alliance's Brussels headquarters.
"Such a deployment would augment Turkey's air defense capabilities to defend the population and territory of Turkey," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said. "It would contribute to the de-escalation of the crisis along NATO's south-eastern border."
A major player in supporting Syria's opposition and planning for the post-conflict era, Turkey is worried about Syria's chemical weapons, the refugee crisis along its border, and what it says is Syrian support for Kurdish militants on its own soil.
"The missile request is totally based on a defensive perspective, for the protection of NATO territories, there is no kind of aggressive intention from our side," a Turkish government official said, adding that the missiles were only one part of the contingency planning.
"Our worst case scenario is firstly a huge refugee influx and secondly what the international community would do if Syrians trying to escape to Turkey are shot at," he said.
Concerns in Ankara deepened last week with an air assault by forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on the rebel-held frontier town of Ras al-Ain, which triggered some of the biggest refugee movements.