NATO is prepared to step up support for Turkey and warned Russia against escalating its campaign in neighboring Syria, as U.S. officials said some Russian missiles intended to hit Syrian rebels fell short, landing in Iran.
The events on Thursday underscored the worsening of regional tensions as Russia flexed its muscles in its first military campaign outside the former Soviet Union in three decades.
Russia's violations of Turkey's airspace are not acceptable and its actions carry the "risk of miscalculations," Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's defense ministers met in Brussels. "We are in constant dialogue and assessing the situation with Turkey, but the main thing is we have a duty to reinforce," he said. Turkey has NATO's second-largest military.