President Donald Trump championed a peace deal signed by leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda, calling the end to their long-standing conflict “a great day for Africa” despite a flare-up in fighting near the Rwandan border.
The peace deal was signed at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, formerly the U.S. Institute of Peace, as Trump continues his quest to secure a Nobel Peace Prize. The event also comes one day before the president is set to receive a “Peace Prize” award from FIFA President Gianni Infantino at the World Cup drawing at the Kennedy Center.
“This is a special occasion for a lot of reasons, but No. 1 is it’s our first occasion in this building, using it for peace, and it’s all about peace, and it’s a great honor,” Trump said. “It’s a spectacular building, and we all appreciate it. And very importantly, we’re settling a war that’s been going on for decades with millions and millions of people killed.”
Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame appeared to play nice with each other after meeting privately with Trump at the White House before the signing.
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“We have come to the U.S. Institute of Peace to sign a historic agreement that will end one of the longest-running conflicts anywhere in the world, with far more than 10 million people killed,” Trump said. “Today, we commit to stopping decades of violence and bloodshed and to begin a new era of harmony and cooperation between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.”
The chairman of the African Union, the presidents of Angola, Burundi, and Kenya, the vice president of Uganda, and the foreign ministers of Qatar also attended the event.
The deal will provide the United States with easier access to the mineral-rich region as it attempts to counter China’s dominance of rare earth amid an escalating trade war.
“Today, the United States is also signing our own bilateral agreements with the Congo and Rwanda that will unlock new opportunities for the United States to access critical minerals and provide economic benefits for everybody,” Trump said. “And we’ll be involved with sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries. And we’re going to take out some of the rare earth, take out some of the assets and pay, and everybody’s going to make a lot of money.”
The Thursday signing tied together multiple agreements that were negotiated to end the conflict between the two nations. However, on Wednesday, fighting erupted near the town of Kamanyola on the Rwandan border.
Last month, the Rwanda-backed rebel group M23 and the Congo signed a framework agreement for a peace deal following mediation from Qatar and the U.S. Months before that, on June 27, Trump brokered a peace deal between the Congo and Rwanda, but that deal was not yet implemented. The deal was signed by the foreign ministers of both countries and overseen by Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
M23, which seized key parts of the eastern Congo earlier this year, was not at the Thursday event with Congolese and Rwandan leadership. Rwanda has routinely denied supporting M23.
According to the newly signed agreement, Rwanda will withdraw its troops from the eastern Congo, the two nations will establish an “economic integration framework” within 90 days, and all parties will implement a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days to oversee the withdrawal of Rwandan troops and the disbandment of M23 and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, a Rwandan faction active in the eastern Congo.
“The compact we’re signing today, which will be known as the Washington accords, everybody sort of liked that name, formalizes the terms agreed to in June, including a permanent ceasefire, the disarmament of non-state forces, provisions for refugees to return to their homes, and justice and accountability for those who have committed illegal atrocities,” Trump said.
A joint oversight committee, comprising representatives from the U.S., Qatar, and the African Union, will oversee humanitarian provisions in the area.
Nearly 6 million people have died during the decadeslong conflict that dates back to Rwanda’s 1994 civil war. Seven million people have been displaced, and 21 million are in desperate need of aid.
Both presidents thanked Trump for helping negotiate the deal.
“This conflict has lasted for 30 years. We have seen countless mediation efforts, but none has succeeded in resolving the underlying issues,” Kagame said. “President Trump introduced a new and effective dynamism that created a space for breakthroughs. His approach is even-handed, never taking sides.”
During his remarks on Thursday, Tshisekedi said he felt a “deep gratitude and clear hope” on behalf of the Congo for Trump’s efforts to broker peace.
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Kagame acknowledged the tensions that could cause the peace deal to fall apart, but avoided placing blame on the U.S.
“If this agreement falters and things do not work out as they are supposed to, the responsibility will not lie with President Trump, but with ourselves,” he said.