Rwanda to sign DR Congo peace deal in US in June

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (C), Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe (R) and Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner sign a Declaration of Principles between the two countries in the Treaty Room of the State Department in Washington, DC, on April 25, 2025. [AFP]

Rwanda's foreign minister on Tuesday said a final peace deal to end a crisis gripping the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo would be signed in mid-June in Washington.

M23 fighters, who UN experts and the United States say have received military support from Rwanda, have made rapid advances in the eastern DRC since January, seizing key cities and vast areas of territory in fighting that has killed thousands.

Last month, the DRC and Rwanda agreed at talks in the United States to reach a draft peace deal by May 2, raising hopes of an end to the crisis sparked by the M23's lightning offensive.

Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe told AFP there was still no agreement on the content of the deal but the next steps would involve "consolidation of the contributions of the parties into a single text".

This would be followed by the "finalisation of the draft peace agreement by foreign ministers in a meeting to take place in Washington during the third week of May".

The process was expected to lead to "the signing of the agreement mid-June at the White House", Nduhungirehe said.

It comes a day after US special envoy for Africa Massad Boulos said on X that he had received "draft text on a peace proposal" by the DRC and Rwanda.

"This is an important step toward fulfilling the commitments made in the Declaration of Principles," said Boulos, who is father-in-law to US President Donald Trump's daughter Tiffany.

Last month, Boulos visited both countries and called for Rwanda to halt support to the M23 and pull out troops.

Rwanda has denied military support for the 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 the eastern DRC, displacing hundreds of thousands of Congolese and triggering a widespread humanitarian crisis.

Multiple ceasefires have been made and broken in the last four years.