Rwanda, Congo agree on steps to 'de-escalate tensions' in Washington meeting

By Kanishka Singh

WASHINGTON, March 18 (Reuters) - ‌The United ​States hosted ​representatives from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda in Washington on Tuesday and Wednesday, with talks centering on the stalled ‌peace process in eastern Congo.

It marked the first encounter between the ⁠parties since the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned the Rwanda Defence Force and four senior officers ‌on March 2.

Washington has blamed ‌Rwandan support for the M23 rebel group for continued violence in eastern Congo. Rwanda denies backing M23. M23 staged a lightning advance in eastern Congo ​in January 2025 and still holds large swathes of territory.

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda "agreed to a series of coordinated steps to de-escalate ⁠tensions and advance progress on the ground," according to a joint statement by the U.S., Congo and ​Rwanda released by the State Department on Wednesday.

"These efforts 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 ⁠neutralize the FDLR, and the protection of all civilians."

The FDLR group was founded by Hutus who fled Rwanda after participating in the 1994 genocide that killed close to one ⁠million Tutsis and moderate Hutus. M23 says it is fighting to protect ethnic Tutsi communities ​in eastern Congo.

Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal in Washington in December as part of U.S. President Donald Trump's push to broker peace and attract billions of dollars ‌in Western investment.

Days after that ceremony, however, M23 rebels entered the eastern Congo city of Uvira, near the Burundian border, ‌in the war's biggest escalation in months.

They later pulled out under U.S. pressure. ⁠Washington said this month, however, that ‌the rebels' continued presence ​near Burundi's border "carries the risk of escalating the conflict into a broader regional war."

(Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by ‌Tom Hogue)

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