President Donald Trump has hosted the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), who signed a peace deal that the US leader hailed as his latest conflict resolution triumph, despite ongoing violence on the ground.
Trump welcomed Paul Kagame, the longtime president of Rwanda, whose M23 allies have taken a decisive edge on the ground against his country's turbulent neighbour, and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi at the White House on Thursday.
They all then moved to the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace in Washington to sign a peace accord, more than five months after the countries' foreign ministers also met Trump and announced another deal to end the conflict.
"This is a special occasion for a lot of reasons... it's our first occasion in this building, using it for peace... it is a great honour," said Trump, adding, "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."
Referring to Kagame and Tshisekedi as "courageous leaders," Trump stated: "They spent a lot of time killing each other. Now they'll spend a lot of time hugging, holding hands, and taking advantage of the United States of America economically, like every other country does... look at the way they love each other."
Trump hopes the agreement will pave the way for the United States to gain access to critical minerals in eastern DRC, a violence-torn region that has reserves of many of the key ingredients in modern technologies such as electric cars.
But even on the day of Trump's latest meeting, intense fighting raged in eastern DRC, where the M23 armed group — which the UN says is backed by Rwanda — has been gaining ground in recent weeks against Kinshasa's forces.
DRC has been battered by decades-long fighting with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent being the M23 rebels.
M23 is not attending the meeting in Washington and it is also not bound by the terms of any DRC-Rwanda agreement, according to Reuters news agency.
Kagame praised US mediation efforts and stated, "The biggest vote of thanks goes to President Donald Trump!"
"No one asked Trump to take up this task. Our region is far from the headlands. But when the president saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it… This conflict has lasted for 30 years."
Tshisekedi of the DRC hailed the peace accord as a "turning point" for the region, pledging the DRC's commitment to it and hoping Rwanda will also respect fully "the letter and the spirit of the commitments made here in Washington."
"They bring together, under a coherent architecture, a declaration of principles of a peace agreement and also the regional economic integration framework to provide to the peoples of the region a new perspective, a new outlook … in order to begin a new era of friendship, cooperation and prosperity," President Tshisekedi said.
Leaders of Angola, Burundi, and Kenya were also present at the peace deal signing ceremony and commended Trump’s efforts. Kenya's William Ruto urged Trump to assist in ending Sudan's civil war.
Violence shadows treaty
An AFP journalist at the scene heard weapon fire ring out Thursday on the outskirts of Kamanyola, an M23-controlled town in South Kivu province near the borders with Rwanda and Burundi.
"Many houses have been bombed, and there are many dead," said Rene Chubaka Kalembire, an administrative official in Kaziba, a town also under M23 control, on the eve of the signing.
The long-simmering conflict exploded in late January as the M23 captured the major cities of Goma and Bukavu.
After the June agreement, the M23 — which denies links to Rwanda — and the Kinshasa government pledged a ceasefire following mediation by US partner Qatar, but both sides have since accused the other of violations.
Trump has boasted that the eastern DRC conflict, where hundreds of thousands of people have died over several decades, is among eight wars he has ended since he returned to office in January.
The US president has made no secret of his desire to win the Nobel Peace Prize, underscored by the renaming of the peace institute where Thursday's deal was signed.
Race to secure vital minerals
Trump has voiced hope that the United States can exploit minerals in the country that otherwise could head to China.
The DRC is home to the majority of the world's cobalt, a critical mineral in batteries for electric vehicles, as well as other key minerals such as copper.
The Congolese government said the agreement with Trump would include a peace deal, regional economic integration framework and a "strategic partnership" on natural resources.
But Kinshasa insists peace must be achieved on the ground before proceeding to a second stage of economic development.
Rwanda has made the end of its "defensive measures" contingent on Kinshasa neutralising the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an ethnic Hutu group with links to the 1994 genocide of the Tutsis in Rwanda.
Kagame last week publicly accused the DRC of delaying the signing of an agreement.
Both countries have been in talks with the US administration on its priority of taking in migrants as Trump carries out a sweeping deportation drive.
