President Emmanuel Macron says France plans to send troops to Saudi Arabia to help defend ports that ship the country's oil abroad. He set out the idea during an interview with French national television on Thursday evening, September 24. The conversation covered the international situation and the strategy he intends to pursue as head of state. His comments came against the backdrop of a fuel crisis that has pushed oil supply worries high on the agenda. The aim of the deployment is to guard export infrastructure along a stretch of coastline that matters enormously for the world's energy trade. Macron has argued that European countries should carry more of the burden of securing the region rather than leaning on other powers. Further details about how many soldiers would go and when they would arrive were not spelled out in the interview. Any move would place French forces in the middle of one of the most closely watched corridors for oil shipments.