France to send military to protect Saudi Arabia on Red Sea oil route, Macron says
USO•France will send soldiers, radar and defence systems to protect Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu port, a key energy transport site, President Emmanuel Macron said. He also called a potential U.S. ban on diesel exports “catastrophic” and warned of Russian hostile acts against Europe.
1. Support for Yanbu
France will send troops and defence systems to protect the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, which Macron described as key for energy transport. He said the deployment was intended to protect the site, not involve France in conflicts. The route has come under missile attacks from Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis, and crude oil prices have surged recently.
2. Warnings about Russia
Macron said Russia was multiplying hostile and criminal acts against European countries and warned France could face strikes similar to the failed attack in Leipzig. He said he had ordered his government to prepare a plan to protect critical infrastructure against drone and cyber attacks. Russia has called European allegations of hybrid attacks baseless.
