Overview
- Presidents Félix Tshisekedi and Paul Kagame signed the three-part accord in Washington at a ceremony presided over by President Donald Trump, with no handshake between the two leaders.
- The agreement combines a ceasefire and disarmament plan with a regional economic integration framework and U.S. bilateral arrangements to secure and trace critical-mineral supply chains, as Trump pledged to bring American companies to invest.
- Intense fighting persisted Friday near Kamanyola in South Kivu between M23 fighters and the Congolese army backed by pro-Kinshasa militias, with local sources reporting exchanges of heavy weapons fire.
- Implementation is uncertain because Kinshasa ties progress to a withdrawal of alleged Rwandan troops, while Kigali sets the neutralization of the FDLR as a prerequisite.
- The M23 is not a party to the Washington accord, and Congolese civil society groups warned the deal risks remaining only progress on paper after repeated failures of past ceasefires.