The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has broken up the years-long steady relationship with Khalifa Haftar and his forces in Libya, saying it is a wrong idea that the world thinks France backs up Haftar in the war-ravaged country.

The French President said in a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel that Paris doesn't back up Haftar in Libya but it supports a permanent peaceful solution in the country.

Emmanuel Macron disavowed Haftar and his attack on Tripoli by saying that France had rejected the war in Tripoli since the start because it was always with the peaceful and political solutions for the Libyan crisis.

Macron also commented on the presence of Russian Wagner Group mercenaries in Libya, fighting for Haftar, saying Moscow is playing on the element of "contradiction in Libya".

He indicated that he had spoken with the Russian President Vladimir Putin about the presence of Wagner Group mercenaries in Libya.