Russia could be making moves to establish an air base in northeastern Syria along the border with Turkey, a development that could further complicate the overall situation in the region, two U.S. officials told CNN on Thursday.
The officials say the U.S. has seen a “limited” number of Russian military personnel, more akin to an exploratory party, looking at an airfield in Qamishli, Syria, possibly to determine how they might use the site in the future.
“We don’t know what their intent is, but it is something we are watching closely,” one official said, citing the already fraught relationship between Turkey and Russia following an incident late last year when Turkey shot down a Russian military jet that Ankara claimed had breached Turkish airspace.
The move was first reported by Fox News.
Relations between the two nations, already at a low point, could be exacerbated if Russia were to build up its presence along the border, officials say.
One official called the development “very curious.”
The airfield, formerly controlled by the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, also sits near the Kurdish-controlled region of northeastern Syria, where U.S. and coalition forces are active in the battle against ISIS, and far from Russia’s established base of operations at an air base in Latakia along Syria’s Mediterranean coast.
Officials say they are watching the developments very closely to see how the situation progresses, but are not yet at a stage of extreme concern.