The Kremlin said on Tuesday that it respects what it calls Türkiye’s "legitimate" security concerns over Syria but said all parties there should avoid steps that could worsen the situation.
Türkiye launched air strikes on Kurdish militant bases in northern Syria and Iraq on Sunday and President Tayyip Erdogan has said it may deploy ground forces as it targets groups it blames for a bombing in Istanbul on Nov. 13.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters that while there were disagreements between Russia and Türkiye in their approach to Syria, Moscow understood Türkiye’s security concerns.
"We understand and respect Turkey's concerns about ensuring its own security. We believe this is Türkiye’s legitimate right. At the same time, we call on all parties to refrain from steps that could lead to the destabilization of the overall situation," he said.
Russia supports Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the country's 11-year war, while Ankara has backed opposition factions fighting to topple him.
Earlier, Alexander Lavrentyev, Russian President Vladimir Putin's special envoy on Syria, said Moscow hoped Türkiye would exercise "restraint" and refrain from "any excessive use of force" in Syria.
"We hope to convince our Turkish colleagues to refrain from resorting to excessive use of force on Syrian territory" to "avoid the escalation of tensions", Lavrentyev told reporters in Astana.
At least 37 people were killed in the strikes, according to a report by Britain-based monitoring group the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
"Russia has for months ... done everything possible to prevent any large-scale ground operation," Lavrentyev said in the Kazakh capital, which is hosting a tripartite meeting between Russia, Türkiye and Iran on Syria.
Erdogan has been threatening to launch a new military operation in northern Syria since May.
"We will make those who disturb us on our territory pay," he said on Monday, adding that consultations were ongoing "to decide the level of force that should be used by our ground forces".
The Turkish air offensive, codenamed Operation Claw-Sword, came a week after a blast in central Istanbul killed six people and wounded 81, an attack Türkiye has blamed on the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
The PKK has waged a bloody insurgency in Türkiye for decades and is designated a terror group by Ankara and its Western allies. But it has denied involvement in the Istanbul explosion.
