PARIS, Sept 24 (Reuters) – French President Emmanuel Macron announced on Thursday that France will dispatch troops and air‑defence systems to Saudi Arabia to protect the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, a critical hub for energy shipments.
He also warned that a hypothetical U.S. ban on diesel exports—denied by the White House—would be catastrophic for both the global market and the American economy.
During a wide‑ranging primetime television interview on the international situation, Macron also cautioned about the possibility of Russian attacks on French territory.
Amid domestic pressure over high energy prices, Macron sought to reassure the French public that France has sufficient gas and oil reserves for the upcoming winter and that Paris is actively working to keep energy flows uninterrupted.
Crude oil prices have risen sharply recently after the main alternative route for Saudi Arabian oil exports through Yanbu came under missile attacks from Yemen’s Iran‑backed Houthi forces.
“We are going to send military resources—soldiers, radar systems and defence equipment—to protect this site, not to become involved in any conflict, but simply to safeguard the location,” Macron told TF1 and France 2 TV.
Russian Threat
Macron dismissed a report by the Spanish newspaper El Mundo alleging that the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency had warned European governments of possible drone attacks emanating from the Mediterranean.
“I can deny it. The CIA did not inform French services,” he said.
Nevertheless, Macron said Russia is escalating hostile and criminal actions against European nations, and France could face attacks comparable to the failed strike in Leipzig. Germany attributed an attempted drone assault in August on Leipzig airport to Russia.
Macron convened French party leaders at the Élysée last week to brief them on the intensifying Russian threat. He later announced that he had instructed his government to develop a plan to safeguard critical infrastructure from drone and cyber attacks.
Macron asserted that Moscow aims to intimidate Europe and undermine the continent’s resolve in supporting Ukraine.
Russia maintains that European accusations of hybrid warfare are baseless and stem from anti‑Russian hysteria.
Macron’s stance on Russia was weakened this week when France surprised other EU members by securing an exemption from EU sanctions for Russian‑Uzbek metals magnate Alisher Usmanov on national security grounds. In response, Azerbaijan pardoned a French national imprisoned for espionage.
(Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Inti Landauro, Leigh Thomas and Gabriel Stargardter; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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