The Standoff: DR Congo vs. M23 vs. Rwanda
NAIROBI, Kenya- The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) isn’t budging. Despite mounting global calls to negotiate with the M23 rebel group, the Congolese government has made one thing clear: talks are off the table.
Instead, Kinshasa is doubling down on its demand that neighboring Rwanda—widely accused of backing the rebels—step up to the negotiating table.
“We are not the ones blocking peace,” DR Congo’s Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka told the BBC. “The aggressor here is Rwanda.”
And she isn’t alone in that claim.
A United Nations report from last year found that between 3,000 and 4,000 Rwandan troops had entered DRC territory to fight alongside M23 rebels—something Rwandan President Paul Kagame didn’t exactly deny when pressed in a CNN interview.
His response? A cryptic “I don’t know.”
DR CONGO DEFIES PRESSURE OVER TALKS WITH REBEL M23 zambianobserver.com/dr-congo-defie…
The Conflict’s Escalation and International Fallout
The stakes have never been higher. Since January, at least 8,500 people have died, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced as M23 fighters captured Goma and Bukavu in rapid succession.
In response, international leaders have been scrambling for solutions.
Regional peace talks, brokered by Angola, hit a wall last December when Rwanda insisted that Kinshasa engage directly with M23.
Last month, an East and Southern African mediation effort reiterated that same call—pushing for a ceasefire, foreign troop withdrawal, and direct negotiations with armed groups, including M23.
But Kinshasa isn’t biting. Instead, it’s leveraging global pressure against Rwanda.
USA announces sanctions against two individuals and two entities linked to violence in eastern DRC including Rwanda’s Minister of State for Regional Integration. More below.#sabcnews
The U.S. slapped sanctions on Rwandan government minister James Kabarebe, while the European Commission suspended defense consultations and put its mineral trade deal with Rwanda “under review.”
Even the UK is pausing aid, aside from funds earmarked for the country’s most vulnerable, until Kagame pulls back his forces and engages “meaningfully” in peace efforts.
Rwanda, unsurprisingly, isn’t taking it lightly.
Dismissing the sanctions as “punitive,” Kagame’s government argues that Rwanda is merely defending itself from the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)—a rebel group operating in eastern DRC that includes remnants of the 1994 Rwandan genocide perpetrators.
Tuluka, however, firmly rejects that narrative, saying that while the DRC is working to “neutralize” FDLR elements, its military is not working with them.
