DRC and Rwanda submit draft peace proposal, Massad Boulos says

US President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa and the Middle East has been pushing for end to decades-long conflict

Senior US adviser Massad Boulos at a press conference at the US embassy in Kigali, Rwanda, on April 8. AFP

The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have submitted a draft peace proposal as part of a Washington-led process that could end fighting in resource-rich eastern Congo, a US official said Monday.

President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa and the Middle East, Massad Boulos, said on X that he welcomed the draft text “received from both [Congo] and Rwanda,” calling it “an important step".

Details of the draft were not immediately clear, including whether it offers to ease US access to the region’s critical minerals – something Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has mentioned could be on offer in return for US help in calming the hostilities.

Congo is the world’s largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones. The country also has substantial gold, diamond and copper reserves.

Monday's draft peace proposal comes after Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month oversaw the signing by Congo and Rwanda of a pledge to work towards a peace deal.

The three-decade conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January, when the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by the city of Bukavu in February. The fighting has killed about 3,000 people and raised the fears of a wider regional war.

The DRC government and M23 agreed last month to pause fighting in the east of the country while they work towards a permanent truce, according to a joint statement issued after talks in Qatar.

A member of the M23 group monitors access to the border post crossing into Rwanda in Goma on January 29. AFP

Eastern Congo has been in and out of crisis for decades. Dozens of armed groups are vying for territory in the mining region near the border with Rwanda. The conflict has created one of the world’s largest humanitarian crises with more than seven million people displaced, including 100,000 who fled homes this year.

Also on Monday, Rwandan authorities confirmed that discussions were “under way” with the US about a possible agreement for Rwanda to host migrants deported from America.

Rwanda has in recent years positioned itself as a destination country for migrants that western countries would like to remove, despite concerns by rights groups that Kigali does not respect some of the most fundamental human rights.

Kigali signed an agreement with Britain in 2022 to take in thousands of asylum seekers from the UK before the deal was scrapped last year by new Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Washington is in talks with several other countries, including Libya, to take deported migrants.