The presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda are expected in Washington next week to sign a new peace accord and hold talks with U.S. President Donald Trump, as the United States intensifies efforts to end the conflict in eastern Congo and unlock Western mining investments in the region.
Two diplomatic sources and Tina Salama, spokesperson for Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi, confirmed that the meeting is scheduled for 4 December.
A spokesperson for Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Friday. However, a White House official told Reuters last week that the Trump administration “continues to work with both parties, and looks forward to welcoming them to the White House at the appropriate time.”
The anticipated summit comes months after the Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group staged a rapid offensive in eastern Congo, capturing the region’s two largest cities and heightening fears of a broader regional conflict. The latest wave of violence has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands more.
Despite several negotiated frameworks, progress on the ground has remained minimal.
Next week’s meeting is set to advance a U.S.-brokered peace agreement reached in June, signed by the two countries’ foreign ministers, and a Regional Economic Integration Framework adopted earlier this month. Both are expected to be formally ratified by Presidents Tshisekedi and Kagame, Salama noted.
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“The president has always desired regional integration, but respect for sovereignty is non-negotiable and a prerequisite for regional integration,” she said.
The Trump administration is simultaneously pushing for billions of dollars in new Western investment into Congo and Rwanda—countries that sit atop some of the world’s richest deposits of cobalt, copper, gold, tantalum, lithium and other critical minerals vital to global supply chains.
Congo and Rwanda agreed in September to implement key security measures from the June deal by year-end, including joint operations to neutralise the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and steps to enable the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from eastern Congo. So far, however, there has been little tangible progress.
Rwanda continues to deny backing M23, but a July report by a United Nations group of experts said Kigali exercises command and control over the rebels.
Qatar has separately facilitated talks between Kinshasa and M23, culminating in a framework agreement signed this month. Nonetheless, numerous details remain unresolved.
Tshisekedi, speaking to members of the Congolese diaspora in Serbia, confirmed he would travel to Washington. He reiterated that any meaningful regional economic integration requires the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from eastern Congo.
