The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have submitted a draft peace proposal as part of a process meant to end fighting in eastern DRC and attract billions of Western investment, US President Donald Trump's senior adviser for Africa said on Monday.
It is the latest step in an ambitious bid by the Trump administration to end a decades-long conflict in a region rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium.
The two countries' foreign ministers agreed last month, at a ceremony in Washington alongside US secretary of state Marco Rubio, to submit the draft proposal by May 2. However, neither Kinshasa or Kigali has publicly confirmed doing so, and Rwandan foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on Saturday on X the two sides' contributions "have not yet been consolidated".
Massad Boulos, who is Trump's senior adviser for Africa and the Middle East, said on X on Monday he welcomed "the draft text on a peace proposal received from the DRC and Rwanda", describing it as "an important step" towards peace.
Washington wants to move quickly. In an interview with Reuters last week, Boulos said the plan was for Rubio to meet in mid-May in Washington with his Rwandan and DRC counterparts in an effort to agree on a final draft peace accord.
Before the accord can be signed, Boulos said, Rwanda and the DRC must finalise bilateral economic agreements with Washington that will see US and Western companies invest billions in DRC mines and infrastructure projects to support mining in the two countries, including the processing of minerals in Rwanda.
The hope is that all three agreements can be signed in about two months, and on the same day, at a ceremony attended by Trump, Boulos said.
The diplomacy comes amid an advance by the M23 group in eastern DRC that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands.
The UN and Western governments have said Rwanda has provided arms and troops to M23. Rwanda has denied backing M23 and said its military has acted in self-defence against the DRC's army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi's government is engaged in separate talks with M23 facilitated by Qatar.
Last month the DRC and M23 agreed to work towards peace, but sources in the two delegations have expressed frustration with the pace of negotiations.
M23 is not involved in the talks in Washington, though Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the rebel alliance that includes M23, told Reuters last week that "we encourage any peace initiative".
Meanwhile, fighting in eastern DRC o continues. Mak Hazukay, a spokesperson for the DRC's army, on Saturday accused M23 of seizing the town of Lunyasenge on Lake Edward and said the DRC "reserves the right to retaliate".
Reuters
DRC and Rwanda submit draft peace proposal, Trump adviser says
Image: REUTERS/ARLETTE BASHIZI
The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda have submitted a draft peace proposal as part of a process meant to end fighting in eastern DRC and attract billions of Western investment, US President Donald Trump's senior adviser for Africa said on Monday.
It is the latest step in an ambitious bid by the Trump administration to end a decades-long conflict in a region rich in minerals including tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium.
The two countries' foreign ministers agreed last month, at a ceremony in Washington alongside US secretary of state Marco Rubio, to submit the draft proposal by May 2. However, neither Kinshasa or Kigali has publicly confirmed doing so, and Rwandan foreign minister Olivier Nduhungirehe said on Saturday on X the two sides' contributions "have not yet been consolidated".
Massad Boulos, who is Trump's senior adviser for Africa and the Middle East, said on X on Monday he welcomed "the draft text on a peace proposal received from the DRC and Rwanda", describing it as "an important step" towards peace.
Washington wants to move quickly. In an interview with Reuters last week, Boulos said the plan was for Rubio to meet in mid-May in Washington with his Rwandan and DRC counterparts in an effort to agree on a final draft peace accord.
Before the accord can be signed, Boulos said, Rwanda and the DRC must finalise bilateral economic agreements with Washington that will see US and Western companies invest billions in DRC mines and infrastructure projects to support mining in the two countries, including the processing of minerals in Rwanda.
The hope is that all three agreements can be signed in about two months, and on the same day, at a ceremony attended by Trump, Boulos said.
The diplomacy comes amid an advance by the M23 group in eastern DRC that has killed thousands and displaced hundreds of thousands.
The UN and Western governments have said Rwanda has provided arms and troops to M23. Rwanda has denied backing M23 and said its military has acted in self-defence against the DRC's army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi's government is engaged in separate talks with M23 facilitated by Qatar.
Last month the DRC and M23 agreed to work towards peace, but sources in the two delegations have expressed frustration with the pace of negotiations.
M23 is not involved in the talks in Washington, though Lawrence Kanyuka, spokesperson for the rebel alliance that includes M23, told Reuters last week that "we encourage any peace initiative".
Meanwhile, fighting in eastern DRC o continues. Mak Hazukay, a spokesperson for the DRC's army, on Saturday accused M23 of seizing the town of Lunyasenge on Lake Edward and said the DRC "reserves the right to retaliate".
Reuters
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