The two African nations signed a peace deal that will see the withdrawal of Rwandan troops that have supported rebel forces in Congo and killed thousands.
Officials from Rwanda and Congo signed a peace deal at the U.S. State Department on June 27 in the hopes of bringing a halt to fighting that has killed thousands in the two African nations this year.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio presided over the ceremony, where foreign ministers from both nations signed the U.S.-brokered agreement.
The peace agreement is a win for the Trump administration, which has sought to position itself as a peacemaker in the international community.
“They were going at it for many years, and with machetes,” U.S. President Donald Trump told reporters ahead of the signing on Friday.
“It is one of the worst wars that anyone has ever seen, and I just happened to have somebody that was able to get it settled.”
The agreement involves provisions on territorial integrity, a prohibition of hostilities, and an agreement for the disengagement, disarmament, and conditional integration of non-state armed groups.
The deal also aims to secure for the United States billions of dollars’ worth of rare earths and other minerals from the region, though the signing of an associated economic framework has been delayed for up to three months from Friday.
“I was able to get them together and sell it,” Trump said of the economic framework, which could grant U.S. companies access to a wide array of valuable resources.
“And not only that, we’re getting for the United States a lot of the mineral rights from the Congo.”
Rubio described Friday’s deal as “an important moment after 30 years of war.”
Under the terms of the peace agreement, Rwanda and Congo will implement a 2024 deal that would have Rwanda withdraw its troops from eastern Congo within the next 90 days.
Rwanda has sent at least 7,000 soldiers over the border in support of a rebel group known as M23. That group seized two of Congo’s largest cities and most lucrative mining areas in a series of surprise attacks earlier this year.
The fighting has since resulted in thousands of deaths and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of civilians.
