Ottawa is talking with allies about enhancing a Canada-led combat unit in Latvia as NATO moves militarily to strengthen its eastern front with Russia.

Latvia’s ambassador to Canada revealed the discussions in an interview with The Canadian Press as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau prepares to attend a NATO summit later this week, where Russia and the invasion of Ukraine will be top priorities.

Ambassador Kaspars Ozolins said the goal is to add more troops and capabilities to the 2,000-strong battle group Canada has led in Latvia since 2017, which would serve as a deterrent to further Russian aggression in the region.

Ozolins said, “We are trying to respond to the current security environment.” “It is important to strengthen forward security, defence, and deterrence on the eastern flank. It must be on par with all NATO countries.”

The Canada-led battle group in Latvia is one of four groups created by NATO in 2017, with Germany leading a similar unit in Lithuania, Britain and the United States responsible for forces in Estonia and Poland respectively.

After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, NATO members agreed to create four more battle groups in Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania, and Slovakia, effectively expanding the alliance’s eastern front from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg confirmed Monday that the eight battle groups will be raised to brigade level, requiring the doubling of troops to between 3,000 and 5,000.

Raising the battle groups to brigades will also require adding more equipment, including dedicated air defence and electronic warfare units as well as improved command and control capabilities, and stockpiling more ammunition and other supplies.

Stoltenberg said, “With more equipment deployed forward, including more battle formations deployed forward, more exercises, we will greatly increase our ability to defend all allies and protect them too on the eastern part of the alliance.”

Stoltenberg said the alliance is also working to significantly increase the number of troops on high readiness from 40,000 to 300,000, so they can be deployed quickly in case of war.

However, while both Germany and Britain have recently said they are prepared to lead larger battle units in Lithuania and Estonia, Canada has remained silent so far on its plans in Latvia.

Trudeau announced in March that Canada will continue to lead the battle group in Latvia until March 2025, which Ozolins described as a necessary first step toward increasing the force.

The ambassador said Canada is now having discussions with other allies, including the other ten countries already contributing troops.

These include Spain, Italy, Albania, Poland, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Ozolins said, “We are heading in the right direction.” “The Canadians are leading the process.

Since the Russian invasion, Canada has deployed additional troops to Latvia, adding to the 600 soldiers already there before the war started.

This includes sending an artillery unit as well as staff officers, including a brigade.

Denmark has also significantly increased its presence in recent months, pledging an 800-person battalion at NATO’s request. But Defence Minister Anita Anand’s office did not directly respond Monday to questions about Canada leading a brigade-sized unit in Latvia or ongoing talks with NATO allies about increasing force size.

Spokesperson Sabrina Kim said in an email that “Minister Anand remains in regular contact with Latvia’s Defence Minister (Artis) Pabriks regarding Canada’s enhanced presence in the region.”

“From the beginning, Canada has made significant contributions to NATO’s deterrence and defence efforts on the eastern flank.

In line with our allies in the region, we will continue to increase our contributions in the future.” The battle groups were initially described as “tripwires,” aimed at making the Kremlin think twice before launching an attack because doing so would trigger a unified response from the 30-member NATO military alliance.

But with the war in Ukraine, alliance leaders now appear to agree with experts’ warnings that these tripwires will be more like speed bumps and won’t do much to stop Russia from passing through the Baltic states before NATO can respond.

During a visit by Latvia’s prime minister in May, Trudeau acknowledged the need to “recalculate” NATO’s previous assumptions and what it considers acceptable regarding an attack on the Baltic states, referring to reports of mass atrocities committed by Russian forces in places like Bucha and Mariupol in Ukraine.

But he did not say whether Canada strongly supports expanding the battle groups and making them permanent.

Ozolins said Latvia does not necessarily expect Canada to put more soldiers on the ground itself, adding that the multinational nature of the battle group in his country is likely one of the main reasons no announcement has been made yet.

He said, “Canada leads the battle group with the most countries.” “Given the huge size and involvement of different countries in the battle group, it will probably take a little longer for discussion, consultation, and negotiation.”

The Britain-led battle group in Estonia includes four other countries while seven work with the Germans in Lithuania.

Ozolins said the bottom line is that it is necessary for the alliance to strengthen its military presence in Latvia and the surrounding region as a show of force to prevent Russia from thinking it can simply pass through the Baltic states.

He said, “Ukraine is a huge country and not easy to bypass, whereas the Baltic states are somewhat smaller geographically and you won’t have time to regroup and reinforce.”

“That is why the current effort is moving toward having more troops on the ground.”