DR Congo, Rwanda agree to de-escalation after talks in US

__________________

WASHINGTON — The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda agreed during talks in Washington to take "concrete steps" to ease tensions and advance a peace accord struck last year, a joint statement said.

Conflict in the mineral-rich eastern DRC, where the Rwandan-backed M23 armed group controls key cities, has continued despite the two neighbours signing a peace deal with US President Donald Trump last year.

"On March 17-18, 2026, representatives from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda met in Washington, D.C. and agreed to concrete steps to further implementation of last year's agreement," a joint US-DRC-Rwandan statement said.

The new pledge comes days after the United States ramped up pressure on Rwanda over the conflict, slapping sanctions on its military and imposing visa restrictions on several unspecified senior officials.

Thousands of Rwandan troops are deployed across eastern DRC, "where they actively engage in combat operations and facilitate M23's control of territory," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on March 2.

Rwanda said the US sanctions were "unjustly targeting only one party," accusing the DRC of violating the peace agreement with "indiscriminate drone attacks and ground offensives."

Rwanda has denied supporting the M23 and has long pressed Kinshasa to crack down on the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), Hutu militants linked to the 1994 genocide in Rwanda.

The joint statement on Wednesday said both countries had agreed to "a series of coordinated steps to de-escalate tensions and advance progress on the ground."

They include "a mutual commitment to specific measures to support each other's sovereignty and territorial integrity, the scheduled disengagement of forces/lifting of defensive measures by Rwanda in defined areas in DRC territory, time-bound and intensified efforts by the DRC to neutralise the FDLR, and the protection of all civilians."