Riga in Talks With London on British Troops Deployment to Latvia

London and Riga have begun consultations on the deployment of a British contingent to Latvia, the spokesman for the Baltic nation’s armed forces, Raymond Graube, said Thursday.

RIGA (Sputnik) – UK Defense Secretary Michael Fallon said earlier in October that London would be sending a "small number" of British troops to the Baltic region to bolster NATO's presence there and to train local armed forces.

"Consultations have begun," the Latvian National Armed Forces (NAF) spokesman told journalists. Graube did not disclose any dates for the UK military deployment or the scale of its presence.

Latvia has been a NATO member state since 2004. It currently hosts NATO personnel from Germany and the United States.

Russia, Latvia’s neighbor, has previously condemned the NATO buildup on its western border. Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused the US-led military bloc of using allegations about Russia’s aggression to justify its presence in the Baltic.