WASHINGTON — United States President Donald Trump will convene the leaders of Congo and Rwanda at the White House on Thursday for a ceremonial agreement signing intended to terminate the protracted conflict devastating eastern Congo while simultaneously establishing American access to the region’s strategically vital mineral deposits for both the federal government and private sector corporations.
The White House has characterized the agreement as a “historic” diplomatic achievement brokered by Trump. The so-called Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity between Presidents Felix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda follows months-long peace initiatives pursued by the United States and partners, including the African Union and Qatar, while formalizing an earlier agreement executed in June.
The Central African nation of Congo has endured decades-long warfare involving more than one hundred armed factions, with the most formidable being the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels. The conflict intensified dramatically this year when M23 forces captured the region’s principal cities of Goma and Bukavu in an unprecedented military advance, exacerbating a humanitarian catastrophe that already ranked among the world’s most severe with millions displaced from their homes.
In its report, Aljazeera stated that United States President Donald Trump will host the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Thursday, the White House has announced. Spokesperson Karoline Leavitt told reporters that DRC President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwanda President Paul Kagame will sign a “historic peace and economic agreement that [Trump] brokered,” framing the accord as a personal diplomatic triumph for the American president.
According to Aljazeera, the event follows after the foreign ministers of the two African nations signed a preliminary peace agreement and economic pact at a White House ceremony in June. After months of negotiations, they convened in Qatar during November and signed a framework document with the ultimate objective of terminating years of brutal fighting that has destabilized the entire Great Lakes region.
M23 rebels have battled the DRC government in North Kivu province for over a decade, participating in a conflict with origins traced to the 1994 Rwandan genocide. The rebels, among more than one hundred groups operating in eastern DRC, consist primarily of ethnic Tutsi individuals who were targeted during the Hutu-perpetrated genocide in Rwanda three decades ago.
The Associated Press reports that fighting meanwhile continued this week in the conflict-ravaged region with pockets of clashes reported between the rebels and Congolese soldiers together with their allied forces. Trump has frequently asserted that his mediation has ended the conflict, which some people in Congo say isn’t accurate given the continuing violence on the ground.
Analysts indicate Thursday’s agreement also isn’t expected to quickly produce peace. A separate peace deal has been signed between Congo and the M23 rebel movement, though implementation remains uncertain and contested. “We are still at war,” said Amani Chibalonza Edith, a 32-year-old resident of Goma, eastern Congo’s key city seized by rebels early this year. “There can be no peace as long as the front lines remain active,” expressing skepticism shared by many civilians enduring the ongoing conflict’s consequences.
Thursday’s pact will additionally build upon a Regional Economic Integration Framework that officials have indicated will define the terms of economic partnerships involving the three countries as agreed upon during November negotiations. The framework establishes mechanisms for cross-border trade, investment protocols, and resource sharing arrangements that Trump administration officials characterize as mutually beneficial.
In search of methods to circumvent China in acquiring rare earth minerals, the Trump administration has capitalized on Congo’s need for security support to gain access to its mineral resources which are essential to manufacturing fighter jets, cellphones and additional technology, currently dominated by China’s supply chains. China already accounts for nearly 70 percent of the world’s rare earth mining and controls roughly 90 percent of its processing capacity globally, creating strategic vulnerabilities that American policymakers seek to address.
Trump is expected to conduct separate meetings with both Congolese and Rwandan leaders before three-way talks followed by the signing ceremony scheduled to take place at the United States Institute of Peace in Washington. Several African leaders are expected to attend the signing event, the Associated Press hinted, though specific attendees have not been publicly disclosed.
The United States Chamber of Commerce will on Thursday also host a concurrent event bringing together American business leaders with Congolese and Rwandan delegations to focus on potential investment opportunities in critical minerals, energy sector development and tourism initiatives, according to Yolande Makolo, a senior adviser to Kagame. The business forum represents the economic dimension of the peace framework that intertwines security arrangements with commercial partnerships.
Aljazeera added that the M23 group resurged in 2021 with the alleged support of Rwanda’s military establishment. Kigali has denied working directly with the M23 rebel movement, instead asserting Rwandan forces have acted in self-defense against the DRC’s military and ethnic Hutu fighters in the porous border region where boundaries remain contested and poorly demarcated.
Thousands of people, many of them civilians, have been killed in the violence which surged during an offensive at the beginning of this year that witnessed M23 forces seize two of the DRC’s largest cities. Fighting has continued sporadically even as the truce negotiations have progressed through various diplomatic channels, undermining confidence that formal agreements will translate into actual cessation of hostilities.
The United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights stated that at least 319 civilians were killed in North Kivu province by “M23 fighters, aided by members of the Rwanda Defence Force” in July, shortly after the initial White House agreement was announced. This documentation directly contradicts claims that diplomatic progress has produced tangible security improvements for vulnerable populations caught between warring factions.
The Associated Press went on stating that in eastern Congo meanwhile, residents reported pockets of clashes and rebel advances in various localities across the conflict zone. Both the M23 and Congolese forces have frequently accused each other of violating the terms of the ceasefire agreed earlier this year, with each side attributing responsibility for continued violence to their opponents while claiming defensive postures.
In the central plateaus across South Kivu province, fighting continued in recent weeks with thousands of civilians frequently forced to flee their homes repeatedly. The hardship in the aftermath of the conflict has also worsened following United States funding cuts that were crucial for aid support in the region, creating additional suffering for populations already struggling with displacement, food insecurity, and lack of basic services.
In rebel-held Goma, which had around two million people and served as a regional hub for security coordination and humanitarian operations before this year’s escalation of fighting, the international airport remains closed, government services such as banking operations are yet to resume and residents have reported a surge in criminal activity and in the prices of essential goods. The breakdown of normal civic functions has created additional layers of hardship beyond the immediate violence.
“We are waiting to see what will happen because so far, both sides continue to clash and attack each other,” said Moise Bauma, a 27-year-old student in rebel-held Bukavu city, expressing the cautious uncertainty that characterizes public sentiment as diplomatic announcements proceed while combat operations persist.
Both Congo and Rwanda meanwhile have touted American involvement as a key step towards peace in the region, welcoming Trump’s personal engagement as potentially decisive given American influence and resources. “We need that attention from the administration to continue to get to where we need to get to,” Makolo stated. “We are under no illusion that this is going to be easy. This is not the end but it’s a good step,” acknowledging the substantial challenges that remain despite formal agreements.
The conflict can be traced to the aftermath of the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, where Hutu militias killed between 500,000 and one million ethnic Tutsi, as well as moderate Hutus and Twa Indigenous people. When Tutsi-led forces fought back and gained control of Rwanda, nearly two million Hutus crossed into Congo fearing reprisals, creating massive refugee populations that destabilized the border regions for decades.
Rwandan authorities have accused the Hutus who fled of participating in the genocide and alleged that elements of the Congolese army protected them from accountability. They have argued that the militias formed by a fraction of the Hutus represent an ongoing threat to Rwanda’s Tutsi population, justifying military interventions across the border as defensive measures necessary for national security.
Congo’s government has insisted there can’t be permanent peace if Rwanda doesn’t withdraw its support troops and other assistance for the M23 in the region, making Rwandan military withdrawal a precondition for sustainable resolution. Rwanda on the other hand has conditioned a permanent ceasefire on Congo dissolving a local militia that it claims consists of Hutus and fights alongside the Congolese military against Rwandan interests.
United Nations experts have documented that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan government forces are deployed in eastern Congo, operating alongside the M23 rebels in coordinated military operations. Rwanda denies such support officially, but acknowledges any action taken in the conflict zone serves to protect its territorial integrity and security interests against perceived threats from Hutu militias.
The disconnect between diplomatic pronouncements in Washington and the violent realities on the ground in eastern Congo highlights the substantial gap between peace agreements signed in distant capitals and actual implementation in conflict zones where armed groups maintain territorial control and competing interests. Previous peace initiatives have similarly failed to produce lasting security improvements, creating skepticism among both analysts and affected populations about whether Thursday’s ceremony will prove different.
The rare earth minerals dimension adds complexity to peace efforts by introducing economic incentives that may not align with genuine conflict resolution. Critics warn that American interest in mineral access could prioritize commercial considerations over comprehensive peace that addresses root causes including ethnic tensions, governance failures, historical grievances, and regional power dynamics that sustain violence regardless of formal agreements.
Congo possesses vast deposits of cobalt, coltan, copper, and other minerals essential to modern technology including electric vehicle batteries, semiconductors, renewable energy systems, and defense applications. American companies and the federal government seek reliable access to these resources currently dominated by Chinese extraction and processing operations that control global supply chains.
The economic framework accompanying the peace agreement establishes mechanisms for American and allied companies to develop mining operations, processing facilities, and transportation infrastructure necessary to extract and export minerals from eastern Congo. Whether this development will benefit local populations or primarily serve external commercial interests remains contested, with some analysts warning about exploitation patterns that historically characterized resource extraction in Central Africa.
The humanitarian crisis in eastern Congo includes approximately seven million internally displaced persons, widespread sexual violence used as a weapon of war, chronic food insecurity affecting millions, limited access to healthcare and education, and breakdown of governance structures in rebel-controlled territories. Peace agreements that fail to address these realities while focusing primarily on mineral access and geopolitical positioning risk perpetuating suffering even if formal hostilities diminish.
The involvement of the African Union and Qatar in the mediation process reflects the complexity of the conflict that requires multiple stakeholders beyond bilateral Congo-Rwanda negotiations. However, the ultimate success depends less on diplomatic ceremonies and more on concrete implementation measures including verified military withdrawals, disarmament of armed groups, restoration of state authority, accountability for atrocities, and economic development that provides alternatives to armed conflict for marginalized populations.
Thursday’s signing ceremony will generate international attention and provide Trump with a foreign policy achievement to highlight, but the genuine test arrives in subsequent months as parties confront the difficult choices required to transform paper agreements into lived peace for populations that have endured decades of violence. The gap between what leaders promise in Washington and what civilians experience in Goma and Bukavu will ultimately determine whether the Washington Accords represent genuine progress or merely another failed attempt to resolve one of Africa’s most intractable conflicts.
