France to send troops and defence systems to protect Saudi Arabia’s Yanbu oil route, Macron says
PARIS, September 26, 2026 (Saudi Arabia Breaking News) — France will send soldiers, radar systems and defence systems to help protect Saudi Arabia’s Red Sea port of Yanbu, President Emmanuel Macron said in a television interview on Thursday.
“We are going to send military resources, that is to say, soldiers, radar systems and defence systems, to protect this site,” Macron told TF1 and France 2. He said France intended to protect Yanbu without joining the conflict. The port is a key route for Saudi oil exports and has come under missile attack by Yemen’s Houthis.
Macron also sought to reassure people in France about energy supplies, saying the country had enough oil and gas as winter approached and was working to keep supplies flowing. He said a US ban on diesel exports would be “catastrophic” for the global and US economies. The White House has denied that such a ban is under consideration.
Turning to European security, Macron denied a report that the CIA had warned French services about possible drone attacks from the Mediterranean. He warned that Russia was increasing hostile activity against European countries and said France could face an attack similar to an attempted drone strike at Germany’s Leipzig airport in August. Germany has blamed Russia for that incident; Moscow rejects European allegations of such attacks.
Macron said he had ordered a plan to protect French critical infrastructure from drones and cyberattacks. Separately, Reuters reported that France had secured an exemption from EU sanctions for Russian-Uzbek metals businessman Alisher Usmanov, citing national security concerns, and that Azerbaijan had pardoned a French national jailed for espionage.
Source: Reuters
