Peace deal with Rwanda opens way to 'new era', says Tshisekedi

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The president of the Democratic Republic of Congo said Monday that a peace deal with Rwanda aimed at ending decades of violence in eastern DRC paves the way for "a new era of stability".

Rich in natural resources, especially lucrative minerals, the vast DRC's east has been plagued by deadly fighting that has ravaged the region for three decades.

The conflict intensified early this year when the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group launched a lightning offensive, seizing territory including the two key cities of Goma and Bukavu.

After several attempts at negotiation failed and with Doha-led mediation between Kinshasa and the M23 ongoing, Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers inked a peace deal in Washington on Friday.

The agreement, described as a significant milestone towards peace by the African Union and the United Nations, follows a string of truces and ceasefires brokered and subsequently broken in recent years.

The deal outlines provisions for the "respect for territorial integrity and halting hosilities" in eastern DRC, which are still however to be implemented.

It also includes economic measures but has few details.

US President Donald Trump holds a letter addressed to Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi congratulating him on the peace agreement with Rwanda during a meeting with Democratic Republic of the Congo Foreign Minister Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner (R) and Rwandan Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe (L) in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on June 27, 2025.

In April, the Congolese president discussed a mining agreement with Massad Boulos, a Lebanese-American businessman and father-in-law of Trump's daughter Tiffany tapped by the president as a senior advisor on Africa.

"This agreement signed by the foreign ministers of our two countries during a solemn ceremony presided by the US Secretary of State Mr Marco Rubio... opens the way to a new era of stability, cooperation and prosperity for our nation," Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi said in a speech broadcast Monday to mark the 65th anniversary of DRC's independence from Belgium.

'Promise of peace'

Tshisekedi called the peace deal "historic" and said it was a "decisive turning point" in ending the conflict.

"This deal is not just a document, it is a promise of peace for the people" affected by the conflict in the eastern DRC, Tshisekedi said.

He said he wanted to "fully re-establish the authority of the state over the entire national territory" although large swathes have for months been under the control of the M23 group.

The text -- negotiated through Qatar since before Trump took office -- does not explicitly address territorial gains by the M23 anti-government group.

The M23, like the pro-Kinshasa militias it is fighting, has never officially recognised previous ceasefires.

Observers and some residents in Goma have expressed fears the peace deal will not translate beyond being a symbolic gesture.

The front in eastern DRC has stabilised since February.

But conflict continues between M23 fighters and myriad local militias which carry out guerrilla tactics.

Human Rights Watch this month accused the M23 of carrying out "mass killings" of Congolese civilians in the areas it occupies.

Rwanda denies providing military support to the M23 but says its security has long been threatened by armed groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), established by ethnic Hutus linked to the massacres of Tutsis in the 1994 Rwanda genocide.

DRC is the world's leading producer of cobalt and has deposits of gold and other valuable minerals including coltan, a metallic ore that is vital in making phones and laptops.