Rwanda on Sunday expressed support for calls for a joint regional summit to address the escalating conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The M23 rebel group, which the United Nations and several countries accuse Rwanda of backing, has recently made significant advances in eastern DRC, capturing the major city of Goma and threatening to march on the capital, Kinshasa.
This latest escalation in a region plagued by decades of conflict involving numerous armed groups has sparked widespread concern across the continent, prompting emergency summits among regional blocs.
The 16-nation Southern African Development Community (SADC) on Friday called for a summit with the eight-country East African Community to “deliberate on the way forward regarding the security situation in the DRC.”
The Rwandan foreign ministry welcomed this proposal, stating in a statement that it has “consistently advocated for a political solution to the ongoing conflict.”
While Rwandan President Paul Kagame, whose country is not a member of SADC, did not attend the SADC emergency session, Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi participated virtually.
Earlier this week, Kagame attended an emergency summit of the East African Community, which was not attended by President Tshisekedi.
The SADC meeting was convened after soldiers from two member states, South Africa and Malawi, were killed during the fighting in Goma. These soldiers were part of the SADC peacekeeping force known as SAMIDRC.
In its Sunday statement, the Rwandan foreign ministry criticized the presence of the SAMIDRC force in DRC, stating that it “should not be there because they are adding to the problems that already existed.”
President Kagame has previously made similar statements.
While Rwanda has consistently denied any military involvement in support of the M23, a United Nations expert report last July concluded that Rwanda had deployed approximately 4,000 troops in eastern DRC and asserted that Kigali had “de facto” control over the group.
Rwanda alleges that the DRC government supports and shelters the FDLR, an armed group formed by former Hutu leaders responsible for the 1994 Rwandan genocide.