President Paul Kagame arrives at the Kigali International Convention Center for the Diplomatic Dinner
President Paul Kagame said Friday that a lasting resolution to tensions between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo depends on the full and balanced implementation of the Washington peace accords, warning that agreements cannot succeed if obligations fall on only one party.
Speaking to diplomats and representatives of international organizations in Kigali, Kagame said the peace process aimed at easing tensions in eastern Congo had established clear commitments for all parties involved, including Rwanda, Congo and the United States, which hosted and facilitated the negotiations.
“By definition, a signed peace agreement should bind all parties equally and implementation should follow the text,” Kagame said.
He said that had not been Rwanda’s experience so far.
“What we see instead is that one party is expected to carry almost the whole burden,” Kagame told the diplomatic audience.
The President was accompanied by the First Lady Mrs Jeannette Kagame.
The Washington accords, he said, established a cease-fire, acknowledged the security concerns of the parties involved and laid out a roadmap intended to address the conflict and promote regional stability.
Yet even as discussions were underway, Kagame said military activities continued to escalate in eastern Congo, undermining the spirit of the negotiations.
According to Kagame, thousands of Burundian troops and government-affiliated militias consolidated offensive positions in eastern Congo during the process, imposing blockades on civilian communities and carrying out ground and aerial attacks in parts of South Kivu.
He said these actions were intended to shift the balance of power through force while negotiations were still ongoing.
“The Congolese government’s intent was to shift the balance through force outside the parameters of the ongoing peace negotiations,” Kagame said.
Kagame said Rwanda had repeatedly raised concerns about these developments ahead of time but that the warnings were largely ignored.
“Rwanda had raised the alarm for months,” he said, referring to military build-ups and escalating tensions in the region.
The situation eventually culminated in clashes in eastern Congo, after which international narratives about the conflict focused heavily on Rwanda, he said.
Kagame stressed that Rwanda remains committed to the peace process and is ready to adjust its defensive posture if the agreements are fully implemented.
“Rwanda is ready to lift its defensive measures in tandem with the DRC fulfilling its obligations under the Washington accords,” he said.
He emphasized that the peace framework involves three parties — Rwanda, Congo and the United States — and therefore requires responsibility from all sides.
“There are actually three parties concerned,” Kagame said. “Rwanda and DRC, of course, but the third is the United States, the country that hosted us and brokered this process.”
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Expecting only one party to fulfill the commitments of the agreement, he said, risks undermining the entire peace effort.
“To have three parties to this process and you expect only one to fulfill its obligations — I’m not sure what we should expect from that,” Kagame said.
If fully implemented, Kagame said, the Washington accords could address the security concerns of all parties and create conditions for greater regional cooperation.
“If fully implemented, this agreement will provide all parties the security they need and deserve and lay the groundwork for mutually beneficial economic cooperation,” he said.
Kagame added that Rwanda’s partnerships with international actors have historically been successful because the country has maintained a stable and consistent security policy.
“Our partnerships have borne fruit precisely because we have had an effective security policy in place continuously for the past three decades,” he said.
The remarks come as diplomatic efforts continue to seek a lasting settlement to the long-running conflict in eastern Congo, where multiple armed groups remain active and tensions between regional actors have periodically escalated.
Kagame said Rwanda’s goal remains a genuine and lasting peace that would allow the region to move beyond decades of instability.
