Today, Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Olivier Nduhungirehe held a virtual meeting with Ambassador Johan Borgstam, the EU Special Representative for the Great Lakes Region.
Discussions focused on the conflict in Eastern DRC and on the Luanda process, following the cancellation of the December 15 Presidential Summit to end conflict.
The talks stalled over Rwanda’s demand that the DRC open direct dialogue with the M23 rebel group that has seized swathes of the eastern DRC since 2021. The DRC government had categorically rejected any idea of dialogue with M23.
The Luanda Process was established as part of the 2022 Luanda Roadmap, aimed at defusing tensions between Rwanda and the DRC and bringing peace to east DRC. However, escalated fighting from October 2023 between M23 rebels and the Armed Forces of the DRC (FARDC) led to a stalemate.
The DRC accused the Rwanda Defence Force (RDF) of fighting alongside the M23, while Rwanda claimed that the DRC supported the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) – a Hutu rebel group active in east DRC. DRC and Rwanda deny supporting the FDLR and the M23 respectively (End