Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed on Thursday in Madrid that Canada will send more troops to Latvia as part of its commitment to upgrade the NATO battle group it leads there.

The Canada-led NATO battle group consists of about 2,000 soldiers, including 700 Canadians, and is one of eight such units based in Eastern Europe designed to deter any Russian invasion.

Canada signed an agreement to upgrade the battle group on the sidelines of the major NATO summit on Wednesday, but at that time the federal government said it was too early to confirm whether this would mean deploying more armed forces personnel.

Trudeau did not mention the expected number of troops on Thursday.

He also announced more military equipment for Ukraine.

Trudeau said Canada is in the final stages of talks to supply Ukraine with up to 39 armored combat support vehicles to assist it in fighting Russia.

He also pledged to give Ukraine six Canadian-made drones, to complement nearly 20 cameras sent earlier this year.

In the same context, purchasing this equipment means that Canada has now spent the $500 million allocated in the 2022 budget for military support to Ukraine.

On another note, Trudeau said the new NATO Centre of Excellence on Climate Change and Security will be located in Montreal.

He announced that Canada also plans to host the North American office of NATO’s Innovation Centres called the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA).

At a press conference marking the end of the NATO meeting, Trudeau also said Canada will participate in the G20 summit expected to be held in Bali in November, even if Russian President Vladimir Putin also attends.

Trudeau said he expects all G7 countries, which also include the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, and Japan, to participate even if Russia remains a full member of the G20.

He added that it is "very important" to have a conversation about the global economy at the G20 summit and that Canada needs to confront the voice Russia will have at that table, and any lies it shares there.

Edited by: Dima Abu Khair