NATO ready to send troops to Turkey-Syrian border as risk of conflict with Russia grows

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Alarmed by the spreading chaos caused by Russia's military actions in Syria, NATO on Thursday raised the possibility of dispatching troops to bolster alliance member Turkey, with U.S. Secretary of Defence Ashton Carter going so far as to refer to the Syrian-Turkish border as a second "front" in a growing conflict with Russia.

Mr. Carter accused Russian forces of "increasingly unprofessional behaviour," including several violations of Turkish airspace in recent days by Russian warplanes operating out of Syria.

On Thursday, Ankara asked the alliance to postpone the planned withdrawal of Patriot anti-aircraft missile systems from southern Turkey. The Kremlin has said the violations of Turkish airspace were unintentional.

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary-General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, called the incursions "unacceptable" and said the alliance stood ready to deploy its newly created 13,000-soldier Response Force to Turkey if required. The force can be deployed "wherever it is needed" within 48 hours, Mr. Stoltenberg said.

The Response Force was created last year to reassure alliance members in Eastern Europe made nervous by the Kremlin's annexation of the Crimean Peninsula and its support for armed separatists in eastern Ukraine. No Canadian troops are currently assigned to the 5,000-strong "spearhead" unit, though Defence Minister Jason Kenney has said Canada could offer what he called "enablers" – such as aerial refuelling and airborne reconnaissance craft – to the larger Response Force.

Mr. Kenney, a Conservative candidate in the federal election, was on the campaign trail in Canada and did not attend the Brussels meeting. Canada was represented by deputy defence minister John Forster.

"Our military commanders have confirmed that we already have what we need to deploy the NATO Response Force to the south," Mr. Stoltenberg said. "NATO is ready to defend and protect all alliance members against any threat, and that of course is valid for Turkey."

NATO announced in June that the Response Force would be increased in size to 40,000, though officials said Thursday that target won't be achieved until next year.

Mr. Carter also said Russia had given no warning before firing cruise missiles into Syria from warships in the Caspian Sea. Pentagon officials, quoted anonymously by news agencies in Washington, said Thursday that four of the 26 missiles fired from the Caspian had landed in Iran, apparently falling hundreds of kilometres short of their intended targets. The Russian defence ministry denied any missiles missed their mark.

Mr. Carter said Russia's nine-day-old military action in Syria – which has seen war planes and cruise missiles strike opponents of President Bashar al-Assad's regime – would not distract the alliance from Russia's actions in Ukraine.

"The resolve of the entire group is … to address both the southern front and the eastern front simultaneously," he said.

Mr. Carter painted Russia as an adversary – and an isolated one – in other theatres as well. "From the Kamchatka Peninsula in the Pacific, through South Asia, into the Caucasus, and around to the Baltics, Russia has continued to wrap itself in a shroud of isolation. Only the Kremlin can decide to change that," he said.

Russia began air strikes in Syria on Sept. 30, saying it wanted to combat "terrorism" by bolstering Mr. al-Assad. The latter goal puts the Kremlin at direct odds with Turkey, which has supported anti-government rebels throughout Syria's 4 1/2-year-old civil war, a conflict that has killed some 250,000 people and driven millions of people from their homes.

Mr. Carter said Russia's strategy of supporting Mr. al-Assad's forces was "a fundamental strategic mistake" and predicted it would come at a high cost.

"This will have consequences for Russia itself, which is rightfully fearful of attacks upon Russia. And I also expect that in the coming days, the Russians will begin to suffer casualties in Syria."

The one-day meeting of NATO defence ministers was almost entirely consumed by the alliance's deteriorating relationship with Moscow.

As it was going on, General Ali Abdullah Ayoub, the Syrian army's chief of staff, announced "a vast offensive to defeat the terrorist groups." Gen. Ayoub did not say where the offensive was taking place but said Russian air strikes had managed to "weaken the fighting capabilities of [Islamic State] and other terrorist groups."

Most of the Russian air strikes have been concentrated on areas that rebels had managed to capture near the al-Assad regime's power base in the northwest of the country, around the port cities of Latakia and Tartus. The U.S. has accused Russia of targeting U.S.-supported "moderate" rebels instead of the Islamic State, which is stronger in the east of the country.

The independent Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Russian air strikes were reported Thursday near Latakia, as well as the central province of Hama and the northwestern city of Idlib. It said fighting appeared to be concentrated around Jub al-Ahmar, a strategic high ground currently controlled by anti-regime forces.

Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told a press conference in Moscow that there were "myths" being spread about Russia's actions in Syria. Kremlin-controlled media reported Thursday that 27 "terrorist targets" – including 11 Islamic State training camps – were struck in the preceding 24 hours.