U.S. President Donald Trump is preparing to welcome the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to Washington this Thursday for the signing of a major peace agreement, the White House announced.
White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters on Monday that Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame will endorse a “historic peace and economic” accord facilitated by Trump.
Tshisekedi had already confirmed last week that he would attend the meeting in Washington.
Thursday’s signing is intended to strengthen a previous peace agreement reached in June between the two nations’ foreign ministers, as well as an economic framework adopted in November.
This latest deal marks the culmination of months of diplomatic efforts aimed at calming the long-running conflict in eastern Congo.
The Congolese government has repeatedly maintained that its participation in the accord depends on Rwanda halting any alleged support for the M23 rebel movement.
On the other hand, Kagame has accused the Congolese authorities of dragging their feet on finalizing the agreement.
Although he expressed confidence in the progress made so far, the Rwandan leader cautioned that true and lasting peace in eastern Congo will only be possible if “the people directly concerned are committed to achieve results.”
At the same time, the DRC is pursuing separate negotiations with M23 in Qatar. On November 15, Congo and the rebel group signed a peace framework in Doha, building on an earlier declaration of principles.
