United States: DR Congo, Rwanda Resume Talks

Delegations from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda began meeting in Washington on October 21, 2025, for a third session of the Joint Security Coordination Mechanism. The two-day meeting from October 21 to 22, 2025, is aimed at enhancing the June 27, 2025 Peace Agreement in Washington. The last time the two parties held discussions on the framework was from September 17 to 18, during which they decided to activate the concept of operations (Conops), from October 1, 2025. The Conops focuses on the operational aspects that states clearly the different stages of the military operation. Within the said context, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC), sent a message to the Rwandan FDLR rebels, calling on them to surrender either to the FARDC or to MONUSCO. But since then, there has been no FDLR surrender, neither to the UN mission, nor to the Congolese army despite lofty promises from its leaders. During the two day meeting in Washington, it will therefore be a question of evaluating the first phase of the fight against the armed group. A phase, which according to the agreement, was aimed at creating awareness, plan, coordinate and exchange information. The next step in the concept of operations is the conduct of operations. That is, targeted actions against the FDLR, the lifting of Rwanda's so-called defensive measures, and the end of crossborder operations. For now, it is not clear whether the parties will be able to move forward together, while respecting their commitments due to the verbal tension observed in recent days between Kinshasa and Kigali. It should be noted that the agreement signed on...