Canada is expected to lead a NATO force in Latvia, a former part of the Soviet Union, deployed to prevent Russian aggression. Canada’s open-ended involvement includes contributing 450 soldiers by early 2017 in addition to renewing CF-18 aerial reconnaissance over the Baltic.
Meanwhile, Russian state-news agency Sputnik international has clarified reports from the Latvian Ministry of Defence for their readers that the thousand-strong force Canada will be commanding will not entirely be from Canada but from other countries participating in the exercise as well.
Ultimately, the notion of a group of countries gathering military forces on defunct Russian territory for the chief purpose of being a deterrent against Russian aggression, sounds at best a bit ominous and at worst a public shaming of Russia’s present direction in foreign policy matters of state. Is it justified? Probably. Will the NATO banner, the tag of it being an exercise, and the involvement of a country historically known for peacekeeping during the Suez Crisis ease tensions? Probably not. Russia has maintained an interest in the Arctic and while it may not have seen Canada as an enemy in this regard it certainly sees it as a rival. I believe Canada is on the right side of history by leading this act of peacekeeping, but it is just as easy to make the argument that on the other side, Russians may be thinking Canada has cast its lot against them.
With that said, should Russia make another play in the region even if done by a rogue faction giving the government deniability, a framework will be in place to orchestrate a coordinated resistance.
Extra:
Elitehusky's: Planet in Motion 