U.S. President Donald Trump brought together the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Washington on Thursday to sign a peace deal, despite ongoing fighting in the region.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi reaffirmed their commitment to an economic integration compact agreed upon last month, as well as a U.S.-mediated peace deal reached in June. They were also set to sign an agreement on critical minerals.
This signing marked another diplomatic victory for Trump, though it was somewhat at odds with the violence still unfolding on the ground.
Washington seeks access to a variety of natural resources in Congo and is working globally to counter China’s dominance in critical minerals.
"We're settling a war that's been going on for decades," Trump said. "They spent a lot of time killing each other, and now they’re going to spend a lot of time hugging, holding hands, and taking advantage of the United States economically – like every other country does."
Sitting before a "Delivering Peace" backdrop at a peace institute informally renamed after Trump, the African leaders signed and exchanged documents with the U.S. president.
"Thank you for putting a certain name on that building," Trump remarked to Secretary of State Marco Rubio, calling it "a great honour."
As the leaders were signing, clashes were reported between Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and the Congolese army in South Kivu province. M23 accused government troops of bombing civilian areas.
Earlier this year, M23 captured the two largest cities in eastern Congo, raising concerns about a wider war. Analysts suggest that while U.S. diplomacy has prevented the escalation of fighting, it has failed to address the root causes of the conflict.
A White House official stated that the signing "recommits the parties to the peace process" and reflects "months of intensive diplomacy led by President Trump, who made it clear to both the DRC and Rwanda that the status quo was unacceptable."
Clashes in Congo Persist
The Republican U.S. president has been keen to bolster his diplomatic credentials. Since his return to office in January, Trump has intervened in conflicts from the Middle East to Ukraine and beyond. He has also presided over high-profile deal-signing ceremonies from Kuala Lumpur to Sharm el-Sheikh.
However, these efforts have yielded mixed results: a long-awaited deal in Gaza, but also criticism that he should focus more on domestic concerns, such as the cost of living. Voters have rated Trump poorly for his handling of the economy.
Ahead of Thursday's signing, Trump’s name was added to a sign outside the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, a nonprofit founded by Congress, which his administration tried to seize control of earlier this year. The matter of who controls the institute is now the subject of a legal dispute.
The peace agreement, however, may not have much impact on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Congo. Both Congo’s army and M23 have accused each other of violating existing ceasefire agreements. At a news conference in Washington on Wednesday, Congolese official Patrick Muyaya blamed M23 for the recent fighting, claiming it was "proof that Rwanda doesn’t want peace."
M23 did not attend the Washington meetings and is not bound by the terms of the Congo-Rwanda deal. It is, instead, engaged in separate talks with Congo, mediated by Qatar.
Denis Mukwege, a Nobel Peace Prize laureate in 2018 for his work with Congolese victims of sexual violence, argued that the deals were more about securing access to minerals than ending the violence.
"For me, it is clear that this is not a peace agreement," he said in Paris. "The proof: this morning, in my native village, people were burying the dead while a peace agreement was being signed. The M23 continues to seize territory."
Rwanda denies backing M23, insisting that its forces have acted in self-defence against ethnic Hutu militiamen linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when over a million people were killed. United Nations experts said in July that Rwanda exercises command over the rebels.
M23 claims it is fighting to protect ethnic Tutsi communities in eastern Congo. The rebel group's advances are part of an ongoing ethnic rivalry in Congo's eastern border regions with Rwanda, a source of conflict for over three decades.
Two devastating wars in the African Great Lakes region between 1996 and 2003 cost millions of lives, and the current cycle of fighting has resulted in thousands of deaths and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
A Region Rich in Minerals
Trump's administration is looking to facilitate billions of dollars in Western investment in a region rich in minerals like tantalum, tin, tungsten, gold, cobalt, copper, and lithium.
Under the deal backed by Trump, Congo is expected to crack down on an armed group opposed to M23, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda. Rwanda is also supposed to withdraw its forces from Congo. However, little progress has been made toward these pledges since June.
"We have seen countless mediations and efforts, but none has succeeded in resolving the underlying issues," Kagame said. "President Trump introduced a new and effective dynamism that created space for breakthroughs." Tshisekedi called the deal a "turning point."
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