France ⁠will send two frigates as part of ⁠the European Union’s naval ⁠mission Aspides in the Red Sea, French President Emmanuel Macron ‌says, Al Jazeera reports.

“We are in the process of setting up a purely defensive, purely escort ⁠mission, which must ⁠be prepared together with both European and non-European ⁠states,” Macron said ⁠after meeting with ⁠Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos ‌Mitsotakis in Cyprus.