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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday blamed Turkey for recent allegations that Russian airstrikes in Syria had caused civilian deaths.
Lavrov also expressed his surprise that German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who visited Turkey on Monday, voiced support for Ankara.
Merkel said Monday that "thousands of people are exposed to Russian bombardment," while Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Russia caused civilian deaths and some 30,000 Syrians are waiting near Turkish border fleeing the Russian-backed air strikes.
According to Lavrov, Merkel's comments were made against the backdrop of "Turkey's blatant blackmail over the migrant problem."
"Notably, all blame for what is going on was placed on Russia as its air strikes allegedly add to migrant flows," Lavrov told the Moskovsky Komsomolet newspaper.
"Nothing was said, at least in public, about obvious facts, such as that the terrorist threat in Syria is being fed by contraband via the Turkish border in both directions."
Earlier in the day, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov also refuted Turkey's claims, saying that no evidence has yet to be provided on alleged casualties from Russia's airstrikes in Syria.
"In regard to Chancellor Merkel's words on the alleged human casualties due to Russian airstrikes in Syria, then of course one needs to take into account that regardless of the huge number of similar statements, no one has yet to produce a single confirmation deserving any trust to these facts," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Peskov as saying.
Peskov added that it is impossible to normalize Russian-Turkish relations as long as Ankara refuses to apologize for the downing of a Russian Su-24 aircraft last November.
"The relations are now in the worst condition they have been in the past few decades. And we are very sorry about it but clearly note that Russia is not responsible for this state," according to Peskov.
The bilateral ties deteriorated after Turkish air forces shot down the Russian Su-24 over alleged airspace violation, which Russia has vehemently denied.
The "war of words" between Russia and Turkey recently again flared up, with Ankara accusing on Jan. 30 another Russian aircraft of trespassing.
