Leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwandan are calling for a ceasefire in eastern Congo to end the latest deadly chapter in the three-year conflict.
Congolese President Felix Zisekedi and Rwandan Paul Kagame have committed to a “immediate and unconditional ceasefire” according to a joint statement issued with Qatar, where the two leaders gathered for an unpublished meeting on Tuesday.
They were not saying how the ceasefire would be carried out or monitored. However, the meeting was the most important step for the leaders as a Rwandan-backed armed group called the M23 acquired a massive strip of two largest cities and territory in the attack that began in January.
“This is the first time that concrete statements have come from both leaders,” Oluwole Ojewale, a scholar at the Institute of Security, focusing on Central Africa, said in an interview.
Ogewar said the US may have been in a position to convene peace talks, but Qatar intervened given that it was not a priority for the Trump administration.
“The countries that actually have the leverage to bring African leaders to the table are countries like Turkey, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which are entirely outside the coast of the continent,” he said.
The fighting in eastern Congo has driven out more than 700,000 people since January and killed thousands of other people, according to the UN Refugee Agency.
The leader's surprise meeting took place the day after the European Union announced sanctions against the Rwandan government and military authorities over M23 support. Rwanda was the country that retaliated by cutting diplomatic ties with Belgium, once a colonial ruler of both Congo and Rwanda, and was the main voice to sanction Rwanda's involvement in the conflict.
In a statement, Tshisekedi and Kagame said they “want to establish a solid foundation” in ethnic tensions and the ethnic group's 30-year battle over land access, where millions of people were killed.
According to the United Nations, the US and European Union, the group created in 2012, the M23 is armed and commanded by Rwandan troops. Rwanda has refused to support the group, saying violence in the neighbouring Congo is threatening its safety.
The M23 controls two important hubs on the Rwanda border: Goma and Bukavu.
It remains to be seen whether the M23 will listen to calls for a ceasefire. It denied ties with the Rwandan government and canceled a scheduled meeting with the Congolese government on Tuesday.
Neither the weaker military nor international pressure in the Congolese, including unanimous condemnation from the UN Security Council, could stop the group from moving forward. According to UN estimates, the M23, which has between 6,000 and 9,000 soldiers, currently manages an area of the size of Louisiana in eastern Congo, rich in other minerals such as gold and coltan.
