Rwanda, DR Congo peace talks hit snag as mediator Angola calls off meeting

DRC presidency says talks had hit deadlock over a Rwandan demand for DRC direct dialogue with M23.

Peace talks between the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to end the conflict in the eastern DRC have been called off, according to the Angolan presidency, which has been mediating between the two sides.

“Contrary to what we expected, the summit will no longer be held today,” the presidency’s media officer Mario Jorge told journalists on Sunday, without elaborating on why the meeting was cancelled at the last minute.

Angolan President Joao Lourenco – the African Union mediator to end the conflict – was meeting alone with DRC leader Felix Tshisekedi, Jorge said.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame had been expected at the meeting but it was not clear if he was in Angola.

There had been hopes the talks would reach an agreement to end the conflict in the eastern DRC, where the M23 fighter group – which the DRC and the UN say is backed by Rwanda – has seized swaths of territory, displacing thousands and triggering a major humanitarian crisis.