CONGO, RWANDA LEADERS COMMIT TO TRUMP DEAL – Kagame and Tshisekedi signed a peace deal in Washington
U.S. President Donald Trump gathered the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to sign a peace deal in Washington on Thursday (December 4).
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi affirmed their commitment to an economic integration compact already agreed to last month, as well as a U.S.-brokered peace deal reached in June that has yet to be implemented.
Their countries are also signing agreements on critical minerals, security and economic partnerships, according to a White House official.
The signing handed Trump the latest in a series of diplomatic victories. Washington is keen to secure better access to a spectrum of natural resources in Congo and wants to counter Chinese dominance in critical minerals.
Sitting before a “Delivering Peace” backdrop at a peace institute renamed after Trump, the African leaders signed and exchanged documents with the U.S. president.
The M23 rebel group seized the two largest cities in eastern Congo earlier this year in a lightning advance that raised fears of a wider war. Analysts say U.S. diplomacy has paused the escalation of fighting in eastern Congo but has failed to resolve core issues.
A White House official said the deal signing “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.”
