United States (US) President Donald Trump will bring leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda together in Washington on Thursday to sign new deals aimed at stabilizing a war-scarred region and attracting Western mining investment.
Rwandan President Paul Kagame and DRC President Felix Tshisekedi are expected to pledge their commitment to an economic integration compact already agreed to last month, as well as a US-brokered peace deal reached in June but still not implemented.
Analysts say US diplomacy has paused escalation of fighting in eastern DRC but has failed to resolve core issues.
The M23 rebel group, supported by Rwanda, seized the two largest cities in eastern DRC earlier this year in a lightning advance that raised fears of a wider war.
–Reuters–
