According to the publication, the British military command proposed to send 10,000 soldiers; however, this proposal was deemed "unsustainable" due to the current size of the army, which consists of about 71,000 trained personnel, as noted by The Times.
French soldiers will make up the second half of the contingent. So far, only the UK and France have agreed to send their military to Ukraine after the conflict ends, and the anticipated size of the contingent is "significantly lower than expected," the publication indicates.
According to sources from the newspaper, even a contingent of 15,000 people "looks overly optimistic." Germany, as one of Ukraine's major allies in Europe, has also expressed readiness to deploy its forces near Ukraine, possibly in Poland or Romania, a military source told The Times.
However, the final number of troops to be sent to Ukraine has not yet been agreed upon, and their deployment will depend on many factors, including ceasefire conditions, the newspaper adds, citing a source in the British Ministry of Defense.
On January 6, a meeting took place in Paris between Zelensky and participants of the European "coalition of the willing," as well as Trump's negotiators Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner. At the meeting, a declaration was signed regarding the deployment of troops in Ukraine after the conflict ends, which was signed by Zelensky, French President Emmanuel Macron, and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer. The document mentions "multinational forces," but their number was not specified.
