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OTTAWA — Eastern European NATO allies have been pressing Canada to deploy up to 1,000 soldiers into the region to bolster the alliance’s presence amid continued concerns about Russian aggression.

The Liberal government says it is looking “actively considering options.” However, Eastern European diplomats say Ottawa has so far been giving “contradictory” signals.

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“One day we hear we might be pleased with what is coming,” one envoy told the Citizen Thursday, “and the next things do not look good at all.”

The allies’ request has been conveyed through diplomatic channels as well as political meetings between Canadian ministers and their NATO counterparts in recent months. Polish President Andrzej Duda raised the issue personally with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during a visit to Ottawa in May.

Canada has had 220 soldiers in Poland since June 2014, three months after Russia annexed Crimea and began supporting separatist forces in eastern Ukraine. They are currently involved in a 10-day military exercise with 30,000 other NATO troops, the largest such exercise since the end of the Cold War.