US President Donald Trump will oversee the signing of a peace deal between DR Congo and Rwanda in Washington today, an agreement he has hailed as buffeting his peacemaking credentials.
Kinshasa accuses Kigali of supporting rebels in the resource-rich eastern DRC, and fighting has escalated ahead of the meeting, highlighting the difficulty of reaching — and maintaining — truces, even if overseen by the US president.
Talks over a Russia-Ukraine peace deal have once again languished, while a ceasefire between Cambodia and Thailand signed under Trump’s auspices has collapsed. “It’s easier to bring people to Washington and sign a document in front of the cameras,” an expert told Semafor’s Africa editor ahead of today’s talks. “Peace will be much harder.”