Overview

• Speaking at a Brussels forum, Félix Tshisekedi called on Paul Kagame to give an explicit order for M23 fighters to cease hostilities.
• Paul Kagame did not directly respond to the appeal and spoke instead of a “positive energy” around business, investment and peace.
• AFP reports that M23, widely described as backed by Rwanda, seized the major cities of Goma and Bukavu earlier this year.
• A DRC–Rwanda agreement was signed in Washington in late June, followed by a July 19 Doha declaration in which Kinshasa and M23 reaffirmed a permanent ceasefire.
• Violence on the ground has persisted, and Tshisekedi also acknowledged President Donald Trump’s involvement in the peace efforts, which Trump regularly claims as a success.