Trump hosts leaders of Congo and Rwanda to finalize peace deal

WASHINGTON (TNND) — President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday to sign a deal aimed at ending a war in eastern Congo and opening access to the region’s critical minerals for the U.S. government and American companies.

The country’s foreign ministers visited the White House in June to secure a peace treaty officially named the Washington Accords.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, center, stands with Rwanda’s Foreign Minister Olivier Nduhungirehe, left, and Democratic Republic of the Congo’s Foreign Minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, right, as they shake hands after signing a peace agreement at the State Department, Friday, June 27, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein).

During the celebration of the peace treaty, Trump said the end of the conflict was “a long time coming.” He said it is time for hope, prosperity, and peace.

Now, Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda will travel to Washington to finalize the deal as the decadeslong war, rooted in the aftermath of Rwanda’s genocide in 1994, continues.

The conflict escalated this year, with Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seizing the region’s main cities of Goma and Bukavu in an unprecedented advance, worsening a humanitarian crisis that was already one of the world’s largest, with millions of people displaced.

The deal hinges on M23 giving up power, which it has shown no sign of doing. Congo is supposed to eliminate a militia known as the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR).

U.N. experts have said that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan government forces are deployed in eastern Congo, operating alongside the M23. Rwanda denies such support, but says any action taken in the conflict is to protect its territory.

The region, rich in critical minerals, is of interest to Trump as Washington looks for ways to circumvent China to acquire rare earths, essential to manufacturing fighter jets, cell phones and more. China accounts for nearly 70% of the world’s rare earth mining and controls roughly 90% of global rare earths processing.

Ahead of the meeting, the State Department announced the U.S. Institute of Peace, where the deal will take place, had been renamed after Trump.

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Editor’s note: The Associated Press contributed to this article.