France’s ambassador to Belarus has left the country after the Belarus government ordered him out, AFP news agency reports.

An embassy spokesperson confirmed to AFP that ambassador Nicolas de Lacoste left the country on Sunday. He had been told to leave by Monday.

Mr de Lacoste, who is 57, was posted to Minsk late last year.

Local media have suggested that he had failed to present his credentials to President Alexander Lukashenko.

Mr de Lacoste instead met the Belarusian Foreign Minister Vladimir Makei last December.