Rwanda demands 'solution' after DRC peace talks fail

Rwanda's President Paul Kagame said Thursday that recent peace talks with DR Congo had been merely a photo opportunity for leaders and demanded new efforts to solve their deadly conflict.

Peace talks hosted by Angola were cancelled at the last minute in December, when leaders hit deadlock over a Rwandan demand that Congolese negotiators talk directly with rebels operating on their territory.

Rwanda-backed rebels known as the March 23 Movement (M23) since 2021 have seized swathes of eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, displacing thousands and triggering a humanitarian crisis.

Rwanda said its aim is to tackle the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), an armed group primarily composed of Hutu militants formed in the wake of the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Rwanda denies reports by United Nations experts and others that it is directly supporting the M23.