French President Macron Hosts Rwanda & DR Congo Leaders Amid Tensions

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday met with Rwandan President Paul Kagame and the Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi amid tensions between the two African countries over rebel activity near their common border, reported The BBC News.

On the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly, French President Macron invited President Kagame to lunch with his DR Congo counterpart, who a day earlier had accused Kigali of backing rebel attacks in his country.

In a statement, the French presidency said that the three leaders together noted their concerns about the resurgence of violence in the east of the DRC and called for urgent steps to provide a regional and coordinated response to the threat posed by armed terrorist groups in the region.

The French government said that Kagame and Tshisekedi agreed on the need for the pullout of M23 rebels from Bunagana town on the Ugandan border.

As per the French government’s statement, the three leaders have agreed to intensify lasting cooperation to fight impunity and control activities of armed groups, including the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda, or FDLR, in the Great Lakes region.

While addressing the 77th UNGA on Tuesday, Tshisekedi alleged that Rwanda has provided massive support to M23, the rebel group blamed for the shooting down of a UN peacekeeping helicopter in March, in which eight people died. He said Rwanda’s involvement and responsibility is no longer debatable. Rwanda has consistently denied supporting the group.

In his address on Wednesday, Kagame called for calm.

“There is an urgent need to find a political need to find and address the root cause of instability in eastern DRC,” the Rwandan president said.

He said blame game will not solve the problems. He added that the challenges are not insurmountable and solutions can be found.

“This would ultimately be much less costly in terms of both money and human lives,” Kagame said.

The Rwandan government has long rejected allegations of backing the M23, but US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, on an August visit to Kinshasa, said there were credible reports of Rwandan support.

In related news, the French President Macron urged the world leaders to ramp up pressure on Vladimir Putin after the Russian leader called up reservists for the war on Ukraine.