President Paul Kagame has emphasised that resolving the ongoing crisis in DR Congo will require the Congolese government to “hold the bull by its horns” and engage the AFC/M23 rebels peacefully, rather than militarily. He said this in an interview with Mario Nawfal, an American blogger, who was in Rwanda last week, to discuss among other things, DR Congo crisis. ALSO READ: Angolan leader says dialogue with M23 only solution to DR Congo crisis Kinshasa has for long denied any possibility for peace with the rebels, who took control of Goma and Bukavu, two major cities in eastern DR Congo, since the beginning of 2025. Kagame said that while a perfect resolution may not be immediately achievable, fighting needs to stop to give way for processes that address the root causes of the conflict. He laid out a three-step path to peace in eastern DR Congo. “Now, what is needed is for parties involved, and others who want to support to stop the fighting, to have a ceasefire.” ALSO READ: DR Congo crisis: Rwanda only concerned by FDLR security threat, not minerals – Kagame Secondly, he said there needs to be a process that resolves the political issues peacefully, by recognizing the concerns of M23, who fight for the protection of Congolese Tutsi communities that have been victims of ethnic violence for decades. “And that will require the leaders of Congo to take the bull by its horns and accept the reality, and say, ‘I must talk to these Congolese opposed to me; I must listen to them and [know] what their grievances are.’ Even if they picked six out of 10 grievances and said, ‘Okay, on these ones we agree, on the other four, we don't agree.’ That's progress,” Kagame said. “Three, they must recognise the security concerns of Rwanda and address them because they are based in Congo and in fact, they've been associated with the Congolese government.” Rwanda has for years expressed concerns about the collaboration between the Congolese army and the FDLR, a group linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi. The UN-sanctioned group is also implicated in the persecution of Congolese Tutsi communities. “Even if we got minimum on the three [issues], a ceasefire, political concerns of the Congolese addressed, and then the security concerns of Rwanda — they are not going to be negotiated,” Kagame said. However, he noted that a major roadblock on this potential path was Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi’s insistence on a military solution to the problem and denial of any possibility of direct peace talks with the AFC/M23 rebels. On Tuesday, Angolan President João Lourenço met with Tshisekedi in Luanda and announced that he would arrange direct negotiations between DR Congo and M23 in the coming days. Kagame added that Rwanda remains committed to peace in the region and called on the international community to support peaceful efforts for DR Congo. “Even those countries that have interests in Congo — it’s their right to have interests there — they should also find that their interests would be served better by solving these problems in this manner,” he said.
