PAPHOS, Cyprus: France will send ​two frigates as part of the European Union's naval mission Aspides in ‌the ‌Red ​Sea, ‌French ⁠President ​Emmanuel Macron said ⁠on Monday.

"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.