--- title: NATO Is Concerned about Russia's Military Presence in Syria description: Moscow's military involvement “will not contribute to solving the conflict,” says NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg canonical: https://time.com/4028846/russia-syria-nato-conflict-bulgaria-bashar-al-assad/ author: Mark Rivett-Carnac article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-09-10T04:40:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T10:49:00.587Z article:section: World og:title: NATO Is Concerned about Russia's Military Presence in Syria og:description: The NATO Secretary General called on leaders to find a political solution. og:url: https://time.com/4028846/russia-syria-nato-conflict-bulgaria-bashar-al-assad/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7a967ab351c7ab1/698862f7cf40a86f02c3fa0a/jens-stoltenberg.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Jens Stoltenberg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: NATO Is Concerned about Russia's Military Presence in Syria twitter:description: The NATO Secretary General called on leaders to find a political solution. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7a967ab351c7ab1/698862f7cf40a86f02c3fa0a/jens-stoltenberg.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # NATO Voices Concern About the Russian Military Presence in Syria ## Video: Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS [Watch (HLS stream): Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8) (2:58)  _Published 2014-09-05. A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?_ by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Sep 10, 2015 4:40 AM CUT  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sept. 3, 2015. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Sept. 3, 2015.Ints Kalnins—Reuters by [Mark Rivett-Carnac](/author/mark-rivett-carnac/) ## Mark Rivett-Carnac Sep 10, 2015 4:40 AM CUT NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg says the alliance is concerned about reports of Moscow’s growing military presence in Syria, and has called on leaders to find a political solution to the four-year-old civil war that has killed at least 250,000 people. Russia’s military involvement “will not contribute to solving the conflict,” Stoltenberg said, according to [Reuters](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/nato-syria-russia-idUSL5N11F43L20150909 "undefined"). “I think it is important to support all efforts to find a political solution to the conflict in Syria.” Stoltenberg’s comments came after Russia’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the presence of military experts in the war-torn nation. Their role is to oversee military aid, said Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova in an official [comment](http://en.mid.ru/en/web/guest/kommentarii%5Fpredstavitelya/-/asset%5Fpublisher/MCZ7HQuMdqBY/content/id/1739503 "undefined"). “The arms transferred to the Syrian army are designed for countering the terrorist threat,” she explained. “If need be, we will consider additional measures on increasing support for the antiterrorist efforts.” Russia’s expanding operations in Syria have frustrated the U.S., which leads coalition air strikes in Syria against the militant group ISIS but also opposes Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime. Washington has asked Bulgaria and Greece to close their respective airspaces to Russian transport planes amid fears that Moscow was increasing its support for Assad. Bulgaria agreed to the request on Tuesday and said it would only grant access to aircraft that were opened for inspection, [Reuters reports](http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/09/09/mideast-crisis-bulgaria-russia-idUSL5N11F18U20150909 "undefined"). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4028846/russia-syria-nato-conflict-bulgaria-bashar-al-assad/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4028846/russia-syria-nato-conflict-bulgaria-bashar-al-assad/"},"headline":"NATO Voices Concern About the Russian Military Presence in Syria","datePublished":"2015-09-10T04:40:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:49:00.587Z","description":"Moscow says it has stationed military experts in the country to oversee arms deliveries","url":"https://time.com/4028846/russia-syria-nato-conflict-bulgaria-bashar-al-assad/","keywords":["Syria","russia","Bashar al-Assad","conflict","NATO","Bulgaria"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7a967ab351c7ab1/698862f7cf40a86f02c3fa0a/jens-stoltenberg.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Mark Rivett-Carnac","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/mark-rivett-carnac/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf7a967ab351c7ab1/698862f7cf40a86f02c3fa0a/jens-stoltenberg.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Jens Stoltenberg","caption":"Jens Stoltenberg","creditText":"Ints Kalnins—Reuters","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/syria/","name":"Syria"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4028846/russia-syria-nato-conflict-bulgaria-bashar-al-assad/","name":"NATO Voices Concern About the Russian Military Presence in Syria"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Why So Many Foreign Fighters Join ISIS","description":"A growing number of foreigners is joining the Islamic militant group - but why?","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/xvTQSd5R/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-09-05T19:18:34.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/xvTQSd5R.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4028846/russia-syria-nato-conflict-bulgaria-bashar-al-assad/","duration":"PT2M58S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4028846/russia-syria-nato-conflict-bulgaria-bashar-al-assad/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```