Russia's foreign ministry has insisted that the country has not changed its position on Syria and "never will".
It came a day after Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Syria's government was "progressively losing control" and that "the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be excluded".
Earlier, the ministry clarified his comments, noting he had also said there could only be a political solution.
Meanwhile, the US has agreed to send Patriot missiles to Turkey.
Defence Secretary Leon Panetta signed orders to deploy two batteries and 400 military personnel along the border with Syria to defend Turkish civilians against attacks by missiles or aircraft.
Germany and the Netherlands are also sending two batteries each to southern Turkey. All six will be placed under the command of Nato and are scheduled to be operational by the end of January.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that the Syrian military had resorted to firing Scud ballistic missiles at rebels in an attempt to slow their advance.