The Democratic Republic of the Congo–Rwanda peace agreement, officially the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity, is a peace treaty intended to end the conflict between the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda, signed on June 27, 2025, in Washington, D.C., United States. The main points of the agreement call for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from the eastern DRC and for the Congolese government to end its support for the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) militia. It also aims to set up a regional economic integration framework between the two countries based on the critical minerals trade, which will involve the United States.
The Washington Peace Accords went into effect after being signed by the foreign ministers of the DRC and Rwanda, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and Olivier Nduhungirehe, following negotiations between the two countries that were mediated by the U.S. and Qatar. The ceremony was overseen by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio. The main Rwandan-backed rebel group in the eastern DRC, the March 23 Movement (M23), was not a party to the agreement, and was in separate negotiations with the Congolese government taking place in Doha, Qatar.
As of mid-September, the implementation of the agreement had stalled. Rwandan troops had not withdrawn from the DRC, the FDLR had not been disbanded, and the talks between M23 and the Congolese government did not lead to a peace deal. Although the DRC had signed a ceasefire and a declaration of principles with M23, it was followed by repeated violations and both sides accusing each other of breaking the ceasefire. A deadline in late August to sign a final peace deal with M23 was missed. The economic section of the Washington Peace Accords was also delayed.
The Doha talks between the DRC and M23 and the Washington talks between the DRC and Rwanda continued for several months. On November 7, delegations from the DRC and Rwanda signed the Regional Economic Integration Framework in Washington. On November 15, the DRC and M23 signed a framework agreement to end their conflict through further negotiations. The heads of state, Félix Tshisekedi of the DRC and Paul Kagame of Rwanda, signed the Washington Peace Accords on December 4, 2025, in a ceremony presided over by U.S. president Donald Trump and involving several other African leaders. However, fighting still continues in the eastern DRC despite the treaty, and it has been criticized by analysts as primarily serving U.S. economic interests instead of resolving the historic conflict.
Background
The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been unstable since the influx of refugees from the Rwandan Civil War during the 1990s, leading to multiple conflicts over the next three decades involving more than 100 armed groups, some of which have been supported by the government of Rwanda. Rwanda has justified its involvement by claiming that some of the Hutu factions responsible for the Rwandan genocide against Tutsis continue to be active in the eastern DRC and have received support from its government—particularly the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR). However, Rwanda has been accused by the United Nations and the Congolese government of using this as a pretext to steal resources from the mineral-rich eastern DRC. The conflicts in this region have caused the deaths of several million Congolese and the displacement of over seven million as refugees, with the UN describing the situation as "one of the most protracted, complex, serious humanitarian crises on Earth".
The current conflict began in 2022 with the resurgence of the March 23 Movement (M23) rebel group in the eastern DRC, following several years of dormancy since the M23 rebellion in 2012–2013. It received extensive military support from Rwanda, although the Rwandan government denies this. In early 2025, M23 captured a large territory in the east, including the major cities of Goma and Bukavu, the provincial capitals of North and South Kivu. The offensive has been described as the biggest escalation since M23 briefly occupied Goma in 2012 and has led to the conflict being compared to the First and Second Congo Wars of the 1990s and early 2000s. According to the UN, as of late 2024, the Rwandan Defence Force (RDF) deployed as many as 4,000 troops to assist M23 in its campaign against the Congolese government, and has de facto control over M23 operations. The Congo River Alliance (AFC), a political organization that M23 joined in 2023, claimed that its goal was to overthrow the Congolese government. The M23 resurgence has become the largest Rwandan-backed rebellion in the DRC since the Second Congo War.
Negotiating process
There were previous efforts to mediate peace talks by Kenya and Angola that did not lead to a lasting agreement. In February 2025, President Félix Tshisekedi of the DRC sent a letter to President Donald Trump, offering the U.S. access to his country's critical minerals in exchange for security assistance. In March, he made a formal offer of this to President Trump. Also that month, Massad Boulos, a businessman who served as an advisor for the Middle East on the second Trump administration transition team, was appointed to the U.S. State Department for the purpose of mediating an agreement to end the conflict in the DRC. After taking office, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke with both Tshisekedi and President Paul Kagame of Rwanda, encouraging an "immediate ceasefire".
Tshisekedi met with Kagame in Qatar for talks hosted by the emir, Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, on March 18, the first in-person meeting between the two heads of state since the escalation of the conflict. Tshisekedi and Kagame called for an immediate ceasefire after their meeting, but this was rejected by the M23 leadership. The U.S. took a bigger role in the talks after the meeting in Doha, Qatar, and it was also the start of negotiations between the DRC and M23. The U.S. and Qatar worked closely throughout the negotiating process after the March 18 meeting, with a Qatari minister saying that it is part of his country's intention to mediate conflicts around the world. In early April Boulos visited and met with officials in the DRC, Rwanda, Kenya, and Uganda, and during his tour he discussed resolving the DRC conflict and potential U.S. investment in the region. He emphasized that the U.S. believes Rwanda must withdraw its troops from DR Congo and end its support for M23. After further Qatari-mediated talks, the Congolese government and M23 agreed to a ceasefire on April 24. The government had previously refused to negotiate with M23, labeling it a terrorist group.
The negotiations continued on April 25 with a meeting of the Congolese and Rwandan foreign ministers, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and Olivier Nduhungirehe, in Washington, D.C., where Secretary of State Rubio was also present. A "declaration of principles" for a peace settlement was agreed on. The declaration called for respecting territorial integrity as well as addressing legitimate security concerns, and also called on the two countries to cooperate with the U.S. and U.S. investors on economic projects, including in critical minerals. A preliminary peace deal was signed by the DRC and Rwanda in Washington on June 19, 2025, after additional talks. Among its main points were ending hostilities and respecting territorial integrity, disarming non-state groups, facilitating the return of refugees, and a regional economic integration network. The signing ceremony was set for June 27. Reportedly, a demand from the DRC on immediate Rwandan troop withdrawal had been dropped during the talks. The U.S. also insisted on a withdrawal before the signing, but dropped it after Rwanda resisted. The signing took place with their foreign ministers, Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and Olivier Nduhungirehe, in the presence of the U.S. Secretary of State, on June 27, and it was followed by a meeting with President Trump at the White House.
Terms
The peace agreement pledges to implement the terms of a 2024 deal which calls for Rwanda to withdraw its troops from the DRC and for the two countries to establish a regional economic integration framework within 90 days, the creation of a joint security coordination mechanism within 30 days, and the "disengagement, disarmament, and conditional integration of non-state armed groups", which would end support for the FDLR and M23. The deal also seeks to "link both countries, in partnership, as appropriate, with the U.S. government and U.S. investors" through the economic framework. The joint security coordination mechanism would oversee both the Rwandan troop withdrawal and the disbandment of the FDLR.
Implementation
2025
The heads of state of the DRC and Rwanda were expected to visit Washington in July to finalize the agreement, which has been officially named the Washington Accord. Massad Boulos later said that the U.S. hopes for the DRC and M23 to also sign a peace agreement before the signing of the Washington Accord by the countries' heads of state. The Rwandan cabinet and Kagame ratified the agreement on July 16. On July 19 the DRC signed a declaration of principles with M23 and the larger rebel political coalition, the AFC, in Doha, Qatar, which stated that a final peace agreement and full ceasefire will be signed no later than August 18, and that it will be in alignment with the agreement between the DRC and Rwanda. Congolese government spokesman Patrick Muyaya stated that the declaration "takes into account the red lines we have always defended, including the withdrawal of M23." The principles include the restoration of state authority over the entire territory of the DRC. A draft peace agreement was released by Qatar as early as August 12, but both sides criticized it and accused each other of violating the ceasefire, with several instances of fighting between M23 and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) in the following days.
Meetings were organized by the U.S. State Department from July 30 to August 1 between delegations from Rwanda, the DRC, and the mediators, to oversee the implementation of the economic and security aspects of the agreement. A meeting of the Joint Oversight Committee took place on September 4, which "acknowledged slowness" in the implementation of the terms. As of mid-September 2025, both the M23 and Rwanda peace negotiations had stalled. Rwandan troops remained in Congolese territory and talks between M23 and the Congolese government were at an impasse. A draft of the economic framework was completed by September 14, but the DRC stated that no economic cooperation with Rwanda was possible until its troops were withdrawn from Congolese territory. In an outline of the economic framework that was reached in August, the DRC and Rwanda affirmed that each country has "full, sovereign control" over the natural resources in its territory and their processing. They also both committed to ensuring that revenue from the mineral trade was not used to fund armed groups, to work to develop a world-class mining industry, and to increase cross-border cooperation on mineral supply chains.
A meeting of the Joint Security Coordination Mechanism took place on September 17–18, leading to an agreement that Congolese military operations against FDLR would begin on October 1 and that a Rwandan troop withdrawal would take place from October 21–31. A meeting of the Joint Oversight Committee took place on October 1, where the details of the security arrangements were finalized, and another round of talks between the Congolese government and M23 was agreed to.
On October 10, the FARDC official spokesman called on all FDLR militants to surrender to the Congolese government in accordance with the agreement, and threatened that there would be military operations against those that did not surrender. On October 14, a new ceasefire monitoring organization was established after Qatari-mediated talks in Doha between M23 and the DRC. It includes delegations from both of them along with U.S., Qatari, and African Union representatives, and was described as a "critical step" by Massad Boulos. Despite this, on October 20, the group launched a new offensive against the pro-government Wazalendo militia in North Kivu, ending the ceasefire that had been in place since August. The FARDC flew in reinforcements by helicopter as militia forces launched a counterattack. Angola accused M23 of violating the ceasefire that had been reached and called for it to be restored. M23 described its actions as "self-defense" against the Congolese government forces. The DRC refused to take part in a formal signing ceremony for the peace agreement involving the heads of state on October 23, which had been proposed by U.S. envoy Boulos, because of ongoing hostilities with M23. Another meeting of the Joint Security Coordination Mechanism took place on October 21–22.
On November 2, Félix Tshisekedi said that the ratification of the peace agreement will take place in a signing ceremony with him and Kagame in Washington after the DRC reaches an agreement with M23. It was also reported that the Congolese government has almost finished negotiations in Qatar towards a peace deal with M23, which will consist of five pillars for peace and specific terms for implementation and monitoring. Boulos described the M23 deal as the "last piece of the puzzle" for the U.S.-mediated peace agreement. The signing ceremony between Tshisekedi and Kagame is reportedly planned for November 13, and will include both the Washington Accord with Rwanda and the Doha agreement with M23, the latter based on the declaration of principles signed in July. However, it was reported later that week that the negotiations were making minimal progress due to disagreement over the return of state authority, with M23 wanting a gradual restoration under a national unity government, while the Congolese government wanted M23 to withdraw unconditionally. M23 also continued establishing parallel state institutions in the territory under its control. M23 reportedly wanted power-sharing in Congolese government institutions and autonomy for the eastern DRC.