KIGALI – A peace deal between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, being brokered by the United States, will no longer be signed on 15 June, Rwanda’s foreign minister said on Saturday.

M23 fighters, who UN experts and the United States say have received military support from Rwanda, have made rapid advances in eastern DRC since January, seizing key cities and vast areas of territory in fighting that has killed thousands of people. In April, the two nations agreed during talks with Washington, to draft a peace deal aimed at ending the crisis in eastern DRC, with the signing initially scheduled for mid-June.
Rwandan foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on Saturday the signing will not happen as scheduled as it “had to be adapted to the reality of the negotiations”.

This comes just days after Rwanda pulled out of Central Africa’s main economic bloc, accusing the organisation of siding with the DRC amid ongoing fighting.
In mid-March, Rwandan president Paul Kagame and DRC president Felix Tshisekedi met in Qatar to discuss a possible ceasefire.
But no agreement was reached.

Rwanda has denied military support for the anti-government M23 but says its security has long been threatened by armed groups in eastern DRC, notably the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, created by former Hutu leaders linked to the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

Since its 2021 resurgence, the M23 has seized swathes of eastern DRC, displacing hundreds of thousands of Congolese and triggering a widespread humanitarian crisis.
Multiple ceasefires have been reached and broken in the last four years. 

– Nampa/AFP