The US will bring together the foreign ministers of both countries and express interest in investment in the East, which is rich in DRC minerals.
Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) agreed to draft a peace agreement by May 2, promising to respect each other’s sovereignty and refrain from providing military support to armed groups.
DRC Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner and her Rwandan counterpart Olivier Nduhungirehe signed the agreement on Friday at a tense meeting in Washington, D.C.
The deal, part of a diplomatic effort to end violence in the eastern DRC, comes two days after Qatar brokered an unexpected ceasefire between African countries.
The US has united both foreign ministers of both countries and expressed interest in investing in the DRC, which is turbulent but mineral-rich East, where the fight between the DRC forces and M23 rebels has been intensifying since January. The M23 won major eastern cities in a campaign that killed thousands.
US and UN experts say the M23 is supported by Rwanda, and Rwanda has repeatedly denied the charges and defended security against hostile militias operating in the DRC, including the remains of the HUTU-led group behind the 1994 genocide.
The joint declaration on Friday, signed before Secretary of State Marco Rubio, directly named the M23, but pledged to halt military support for non-state armed groups.
Wagner later said the deal amounted to a commitment to Rwandan troops to withdraw, as outlined in a resolution by the UN Security Council.
“The good news is that there is hope for peace. The real news – peace must be achieved, and it requires seriousness, transparency, integrity,” she said.
Nduhungirehe said President Donald Trump made a “real change in conversation” with the DRC, including drawing links to efforts to expand US private investment.
Rubio described the deal as “a favorable to both parties,” suggesting that it could unlock major US aid investments in energy and mining. Massad Boulos, a new US envoy to Africa, recently visited both countries and urged Kigali to stop supporting the M23 and pull out the troops.
Since 2021, both sides have agreed to at least six truces, which later collapsed. The latest violence since January has killed thousands and heightened fears of wider regional wars.
Analyst Martin Ziakwau Lembisa believes US pressure has pushed both governments into diplomacy.
“If it had been up to the M23, they would have made it even further,” he told AFP news agency. “But how far Americans get involved is a whole question.”