U.S President Donald Trump has successfully brokered a peace agreement between Democratic Republic of Congo’s President Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame, marking a major diplomatic breakthrough aimed at ending over 30 years of violence in eastern DR Congo.
The accord was signed in Washington at the Peace Institute, recently renamed the Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace.
The agreement seeks to halt decades of conflict in the mineral-rich eastern region, where competition over strategic resources has long fueled unrest and drawn in both regional and international actors.
Trump announced that the United States would soon seal bilateral deals with both countries on rare earth mineral extraction.
He added that top U.S. companies would be deployed to the region, promising economic benefits for “everybody.”
Eastern Congo’s vast deposits of critical minerals have historically attracted the involvement of armed groups and foreign interests.
Analysts had predicted that any successful peace effort would likely align with Washington’s strategic economic priorities, especially regarding access to rare earths.
President Kagame noted that several attempts to resolve the conflict had failed over the years, but Trump managed to bring both leaders to the table.
Congolese President Tshisekedi described the agreement as the beginning of a challenging but necessary path toward lasting peace.
Although both leaders attended the ceremony, they exchanged only brief gestures and did not shake hands.
The accord builds on an earlier framework reached months ago, with both nations committing to respect each other’s territorial sovereignty, halt aggression, and stop supporting armed groups.
Despite the milestone, regional experts caution that the agreement may not, on its own, bring an end to the long-running conflict.
They point to ongoing talks in Doha involving representatives of the Rwanda-backed M23 militia, which earlier this year captured the major cities of Goma and Bukavu in the Kivu region and established its own administrative structures.
