High-Stakes Geneva Talks Test Fragile Peace Agreement Between Rwanda and the DRC

Officials from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda are set to reconvene in Geneva on September 16 and 17 to evaluate the implementation of the 2025 Washington Accords. This two-day meeting of the Joint Security Coordination Mechanism (JSCM) convenes representatives from both nations alongside international mediators from the United States, Qatar, Togo, and the African Union Commission. The mechanism was originally established to monitor and coordinate security commitments, though the upcoming session takes place amid ongoing fighting in the eastern DRC and unresolved core obligations.

The bilateral peace agreement was formally signed in Washington, DC on June 27, 2025, and was later reinforced by the Washington Accords for Peace and Prosperity on December 4. Central to the agreement are the DRC's responsibility to neutralise the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) and Rwanda's obligation to disengage its forces and lift defensive measures. The talks form part of a broader diplomatic initiative to resolve decades of conflict in the eastern DRC, a region bordering Rwanda, Uganda, and Burundi that has long suffered from the presence of armed groups and cyclical violence.

While the United States Department of State has praised the roadmap for aiming to achieve regional economic integration and peace, violence on the ground persists. A September forecast by Security Council Report highlighted ongoing clashes between the Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC) and the M23 armed group in North Kivu and South Kivu, noting that the neutralisation of the FDLR and the lifting of Rwanda's defensive measures remain incomplete. Kigali has repeatedly accused Kinshasa of supporting the FDLR—a group rooted in militias that fled Rwanda following the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi—while Kinshasa denies allegations of backing M23, a movement that resurfaced in 2022 and captured key territories like Goma and Bukavu in 2025.

During the sixth JSCM meeting in Geneva on August 12 and 13, both nations agreed to explore initiatives to enhance ground-level monitoring and verification of the Washington Accords. The DRC also introduced its Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) plan for the FDLR and scheduled a trilateral planning conference for October to produce a revised operations order. However, deep divisions remain over the FDLR issue, as Rwanda rejected a recent protocol signed by an FDLR faction with Kinshasa, maintaining that the group must be completely neutralised rather than engaged through negotiations.