U.S. President Donald Trump brought together the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Washington on Thursday to reaffirm a peace deal, even as clashes continued in their conflict-scarred region.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi confirmed their commitment to an economic integration compact agreed last month and to a U.S.-brokered peace agreement reached in June.
The leaders were also scheduled to sign an agreement covering critical minerals, according to Reuters.
The signing provided Trump with the latest in a series of highly publicized diplomatic moments, despite the contrast with ongoing violence on the ground.
Washington is seeking access to a wide range of Congo’s natural resources and is working globally to challenge China’s dominance in critical mineral supply chains.
“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 of America economically – like every other country does.”
Against a backdrop reading “Delivering Peace” at a Washington peace institute unofficially renamed after Trump by his administration, the two African leaders signed and exchanged documents with the U.S. president present.
“Thank you for putting a certain name on that building,” Trump told Secretary of State Marco Rubio, adding that it was a “great honor.”
As the ceremony took place, reports emerged of clashes between Rwanda-backed M23 rebels and the Congolese army across South Kivu province. A spokesperson for M23 accused government forces of bombing multiple civilian areas.
Earlier this year, the rebel group seized the two largest cities in eastern Congo, escalating concerns of a broader regional war. Analysts say U.S. diplomacy has helped pause the conflict’s escalation but has not addressed its underlying causes.
A White House official said the ceremony “recommits the parties to the peace process” and reflected “months of intensive diplomacy led by President Trump, who made it clear to both the DRC and Rwanda that the status quo was unacceptable.”
Since returning to office in January, Trump has sought to bolster his diplomatic credentials, intervening in conflicts ranging from the Middle East to Ukraine and overseeing headline-grabbing deal signings from Kuala Lumpur to Sharm el-Sheikh.
While these efforts have produced some results, including progress toward a long-sought Gaza deal, Trump has faced criticism for not focusing enough on domestic economic concerns, where voters have rated his performance poorly.
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Ahead of Thursday’s ceremony, Trump’s name was added to signage outside the United States Institute of Peace in Washington, a nonprofit founded by Congress that his administration attempted to take control of earlier this year. Ownership of the institute is currently the subject of legal proceedings.
The effectiveness of the Congo-Rwanda peace agreement remains uncertain, with the humanitarian crisis on the ground ongoing. Both the Congolese army and M23 accuse each other of breaching ceasefire agreements.
At a Washington news conference on Wednesday, Congolese government spokesperson Patrick Muyaya blamed M23 for renewed fighting, saying it was “proof that Rwanda doesn’t want peace.”
M23 was not present at the Washington meetings. The group is not bound by the Congo-Rwanda agreement and is participating separately in Qatar-mediated talks with the Congolese government.
Denis Mukwege, the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize laureate recognized for aiding victims of sexual violence in Congo, criticized the deals as being driven more by the pursuit of minerals than by genuine peacemaking.
“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 has rejected claims that it supports M23, stating its forces have acted defensively against ethnic Hutu militiamen associated with the 1994 Rwandan genocide, when more than one million people were killed.
United Nations experts reported in July that Rwanda exercises command and control over the rebel group. M23 says it is fighting to protect ethnic Tutsi communities in eastern Congo.
The rebel advance represents the most recent episode in a three-decade cycle of ethnic conflict along Congo’s eastern border with Rwanda.
Two wars between 1996 and 2003 in the African Great Lakes region claimed millions of lives, and the latest phase of violence has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
Trump aides are working to enable billions of dollars in Western investment in the resource-rich region, which holds tantalum, tin, tungsten, gold, cobalt, copper, lithium, and other minerals. Under the U.S.-backed agreement, Congo committed to cracking down on the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, an armed group opposed to M23, while Rwanda pledged to withdraw its troops from Congolese territory.
However, little visible progress has been made toward fulfilling either commitment since the deal was reached in 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 the space for breakthroughs.” Tshisekedi described the agreement as a “turning point.”
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Image Credit: Reuters
