The United States, acting as a mediator between Kigali and Kinshasa, has announced that President Paul Kagame and President Félix Tshisekedi will meet in Washington on November 13, 2025.
Originally, the two leaders were expected to meet in October 2025 to sign a final peace agreement to end the ongoing war in eastern DRC.
However, the meeting failed to take place mainly because the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), at the last minute, raised objections to signing an economic cooperation agreement that was supposed to accompany the peace deal.
President Tshisekedi reportedly told delegates who had gathered to sign the documents to “go home and stop the process.”
According to Jeune Afrique, several other issues have also delayed progress, including the slow process of disarming the FDLR rebel group — something Rwanda says must happen before it withdraws its defensive measures along the border.
These delays prompted President Donald Trump, acting as mediator, to announce a new meeting date between Kagame and Tshisekedi.
Jeune Afrique wrote: “Although no major progress has been made in implementing the Washington peace accords, it is clear that President Trump has not given up. He has now set a new date for the two Heads of State to meet.”
Africa Intelligence also confirmed that the meeting between the two leaders is scheduled for November 13, 2025.
Rwanda’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olivier Nduhungirehe, told a local media outlet that Congo is responsible for the stalemate.
He said: “It’s hard to tell whether the Congolese delegation is even briefed on the content of the agreements, because they always come up with new issues. During the last round of talks, the Congolese General leading their team claimed that the FDLR does not exist and poses no threat to Rwanda. He even said that if he had represented Congo during the Washington peace talks, he wouldn’t have signed the agreement.”
Regarding the economic cooperation deal, Nduhungirehe explained that Rwanda and the DRC had discussed and agreed on all clauses. But when the time came to sign and send the document to President Tshisekedi for approval, he ordered his team not to sign.
In early October 2025, Major General Sylvain Bomusa Efomi Ekenge, spokesperson for the DRC army (FARDC), issued a statement calling on all FDLR fighters to lay down their arms and surrender to either the national army or MONUSCO.
However, some observers dismissed this as a mere formality, saying it would be extremely difficult for the DRC to cut ties with a group it has long collaborated with.
According to Dr. Ismael Buchanan, this long-term collaboration has led some FDLR members to become DRC citizens, adopting Congolese names and identities.
Radio Okapi also reported similarly that there are no funds available to track down or demobilize these combatants through military operations.
As of the publication of this report, there was no evidence that the DRC was actively pursuing FDLR fighters. Instead, reports indicate that the FARDC continues to regroup for battles against the AFC/M23 rebel movement, which is advancing toward the city of Uvira.
The FARDC is also said to be working closely with Burundian forces, whose deployment in eastern DRC was recently increased.