"It will be a significant force with a significant number of countries providing troops and a much larger group contributing in other ways," the source was quoted as saying.

According to The Times, although the majority of the force will be supplied by the UK and France, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has persuaded more nations to join than the three countries that originally proposed sending troops. More than 35 countries have agreed to provide weapons, supplies, technical assistance, and intelligence.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said earlier this month that the presence of troops from NATO countries on Ukrainian territory, under any pretext, poses a threat to Russia and Russia will not accept this under any circumstances.