Divisions of emphasis within the coalition over the provision of arms to the Syrian rebels emerged on Sunday when Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister, stressed the conflict was a civil war and no UK decision on arming the rebels appeared imminent.

Clegg told the BBC's Andrew Marr show: "At this point we're not providing arms. If we wanted to, we would do it. We clearly don't think it is the right thing to do now or else we would have decided to do it."

Clegg was speaking hours before David Cameron was due to meet the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, to discuss the crisis, before wider discussions on Monday at the G8 summit chaired by the UK in Northern Ireland.

Describing the provision of non-lethal equipment, which is the current strategy, he said it was possible for the UK to take a different position from that of the Americans, after Barack Obama, the US president, decided to arm the rebels. Asked if the UK should follow the US lead last week, he said: "We need to work in concert with our allies but we do not need to do the identical thing."

He said there was anguish in Britain at the sight of the deaths in Syria, adding: "We are a nation that wants to do things when we see things going on around the world."

But he added he did not want to get embroiled in a military conflict, saying: "Such a move would not be acceptable to the British people."

He said the conflict was different from both Iraq and Libya, saying: "This is a bloody civil war prosecuted by a brutal dictator, Assad, and the idea that we can provide a unilateral British solution to this is fanciful."

He said it was possible to strike a balance between being dragged into a military conflict and standing on the sidelines wringing our hands. He pointed out the coalition was already providing non-lethal equipment including body armour, armoured 4x4s and communications equipment.

Tory whips have warned Cameron that he could lose a vote on arming the rebels, and the Clegg position suggests Cameron does not have enough support across the coalition, including from some of his own ministers, to put the issue of arming the rebels to a vote yet.

Speaking on ITV's Murnaghan, Cameron stressed that he would give MPs a vote on any plans to arm Syrian rebels. He said: "I supported having a vote on the Iraq war. As prime minister I made sure there was a vote on the action we took in Libya. I think parliament should have a say."

He also tried to reassure his backbenchers that he understood the dangers of helping the rebels, saying: "Yes, there are elements of the Syrian opposition that are deeply unsavoury, that are very dangerous, very extremist and I want nothing to do with them. I'd like them driven out of Syria. They're linked to al-Qaida.

"But there are elements of the Syrian opposition who want to see a free democratic pluralistic Syria that respects the rights of minorities including Christians and we should be working with them. We are working with them and my point is this: that if we don't work with those elements of the Syrian opposition then we can't be surprised if the only elements of the Syrian opposition that are actually making any progress in Syria are the ones that we don't approve of."

But he seemed to puts arms low on the list of UK priorities, saying: "I think where we can actually give the greatest assistance to the official proper Syrian opposition is advice, is training and is technical support. That is where I actually think the British government, working with allies like the Emirates and the Jordanians … can have the greatest influence, play the greatest role."