United Kingdom mobile operators will be able to continue working with Chinese telecommunications company Huawei in constructing non-core parts of British 5G networks, the UK government announced on Tuesday.

The decision was made at a meeting of the National Security Council on Tuesday, chaired by UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson alongside top Cabinet ministers and security officials.

Following the meeting, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport released a statement providing details on the role of "high-risk vendors" in UK networks. The statement did not mention Huawei specifically, however unnamed government sources confirmed to newspapers The Times and The Guardian that Huawei had been classified among high-risk vendors.

Under the new guidelines, the UK will allow Huawei equipment to be used in non-sensitive areas of British 5G infrastructure, such as masts and antennas for radio-access networks. Huawei will be excluded from "security critical 'core' functions", the government said in its statement.

High-risk vendors will also be excluded from sensitive geographic locations, such as nuclear sites and military bases, and will operate within a market share cap of 35 percent.

"This is a UK-specific solution for UK-specific reasons and the decision deals with the challenges we face right now," Digital Secretary Nicky Morgan said. "It not only paves the way for secure and resilient networks, with our sovereignty over data protected, but it also builds on our strategy to develop a diversity of suppliers. We can now move forward and seize the huge opportunities of 21st century technology."

Johnson's decision is likely to draw the ire from the White House, as United States diplomats have lobbied for the UK to boycott Huawei due to alleged security concerns.

But UK security officials believe any potential threats can be mitigated, an unnamed government source told The Guardian.

"Our world-leading cybersecurity experts know more about Huawei than any country in the world – and they are satisfied that with our tough approach and regulatory regime, any risks can be managed," the source said.