France to send troops, defenses to Saudi's Yanbu port — SkimNews
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- France will send soldiers, radar systems, and defense systems to Saudi Arabia to protect the Red Sea port city of Yanbu, a key energy transport hub, President Macron said during a primetime TF1 and France 2 interview on September 24.
- Houthi missile attacks on Yanbu have driven crude oil prices higher by threatening the main alternative Saudi oil export route, with Macron stressing the deployment is to "protect this site" and not "get us involved in any conflicts."
- Macron dismissed an El Mundo report that the CIA had warned European governments about potential drone attacks from the Mediterranean, telling viewers flatly: "The CIA did not inform French services."
- Macron warned Russia is multiplying "hostile and criminal acts" against European countries, saying France could face strikes similar to the failed drone attack on Leipzig airport in August, and that he has ordered a plan to protect critical infrastructure from drone and cyber attacks.
- Macron called a US ban on diesel exports — which the White House has denied is under consideration — "catastrophic" both globally and for the US economy, while assuring French viewers the country has adequate gas and oil supplies for winter.
- France shocked other EU members by securing an exemption for Russian-Uzbek metals tycoon Alisher Usmanov from EU sanctions on national security grounds; shortly after, Azerbaijan — which Russia counts as a partner — pardoned a French national jailed for espionage.
Why it matters: Macron is putting French boots and radar on Saudi soil as crude prices climb on Houthi strikes, while simultaneously exempting a Kremlin-linked tycoon from EU sanctions — a sequence that hands Moscow a diplomatic win and exposes fresh cracks in European unity on Russia just as France demands tougher defense readiness.
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