France to remain calm after soldier killed in Iraq

French President Emmanuel Macron said on Friday that France will remain calm after a French soldier was killed on Thursday evening in Iraq.



Macron made the remarks during a press conference with visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, reiterating that France "is not engaged in a war" and that the country's position in the Middle East "is purely defensive."



According to a statement released Friday by the French Ministry of Armed Forces, seven French soldiers stationed at a military base in Erbil province in Iraq's northern semi-autonomous Kurdistan region were targeted by a drone attack on Thursday night, leaving one soldier dead.



Macron said that the impact of the U.S. decision to ease sanctions on Russian oil is "limited," and it does not represent a broad or lasting rollback of the sanctions Washington has itself adopted within the framework of the Group of Seven (G7), as the G7's common position has been to maintain sanctions against Russia.



On Thursday, the United States issued a 30-day waiver allowing countries to purchase sanctioned Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea, aiming to promote stability in energy markets.