Congo, Rwanda leaders affirm commitment to Trump-backed peace deal

5/12/2025 6:33

U.S. President Donald Trump gathered the leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda to sign a peace deal in Washington on Thursday even as fighting continued in their war-scarred region.



Rwandan President Paul Kagame and Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi affirmed commitments to an economic integration compact agreed last month, and to a U.S.-brokered peace deal reached in June. They were also due to sign an agreement on critical minerals.



The signing handed Trump the latest in a series of made-for-television diplomatic victories, in this case one at odds with the bloody situation on the ground. Washington wants access to a spectrum of natural resources in Congo and is scrambling globally to counter China's dominance in critical minerals.