“An important moment after 30 years of war.” That was how Secretary of State Marco Rubio described the peace agreement that Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo signed at the State Department in Washington on June 27, 2025, with the foreign ministers of both countries beside him.
The text sets hard clocks. Rwandan troops are to leave eastern Congo within 90 days, according to the initialled version Reuters reviewed. Congo, for its part, is to run military operations against the FDLR, the Hutu militia tied to the 1994 genocide, over the same period. Rwanda’s foreign minister said the deal includes “an irreversible and verifiable end to state support for FDLR and associated militias.” A joint security coordination mechanism is due within 30 days, and both governments pledged to build a regional economic integration framework within 90 days.
Why the minerals matter
Washington has its own stake. The Trump administration has stressed access to Congo’s tantalum, gold, cobalt, copper and lithium, and NBC News reported that the Commerce Department puts the value of the country’s critical minerals at $24 trillion. NBC also framed the deal as part of a contest with China for influence in Africa.
The economic track is not finished. It depends on parallel talks in Doha between Congolese officials and representatives of the M23 rebel group, and a source told Reuters that a further framework would be signed by the two presidents at a separate White House event.
Qatar’s part
Qatar shared the mediating role. Its representative, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz al-Khulaifi, told Al Jazeera that Doha had hosted early talks, including a March meeting between Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi and Rwandan President Paul Kagame arranged by Qatar’s emir. “Qatar enjoys excellent relationships with both countries and has earned the trust of both,” he said. The State Department said the US, Qatar, the African Union and Togo would monitor implementation.
Doubts about enforcement
The war has displaced 7 million people and killed about 6 million since the 1990s, NBC reported, and more than 100 armed groups operate in the east. M23, the strongest of them, has seized the region’s two largest cities and major mining areas. Rwanda denies backing the group and says its forces act defensively against the Congolese army and Hutu militias; the UN and Western governments say Rwanda supplies M23 with troops and weapons.
M23 itself has signalled it may not feel bound. “Anything regarding us which are done without us, it’s against us,” the group said. Rwanda’s foreign minister admitted a “great deal of uncertainty,” given how earlier agreements collapsed, while Congo’s foreign minister said the victims of the conflict “are watching.”
President Trump warned of “very severe penalties” for violations. Jason Stearns, a political scientist who studies the region, called the deal “the best chance we have at a peace process for the moment,” but added that “it will be up to the US, as they are the godfather of this deal, to make sure both sides abide by the terms.”
French President Emmanuel Macron called the signing “a historic step forward after decades of suffering.” The 90-day troop withdrawal deadline is the first test of whether anyone is held to it.
Sources
- Rwanda and DR Congo Sign US-Brokered Peace Agreement
- Congo and Rwanda sign US-mediated peace deal aimed at ending decades of bloody conflict
- Qatar emphasises peaceful resolution of conflicts after DRC-Rwanda deal
