The United States and Ukraine announced on Wednesday the creation of a new reconstruction and investment fund, formalizing an economic agreement between the two countries that is intended to give the U.S. access to proceeds from Ukraine’s reserves of rare earth minerals. The agreement concludes months of fraught negotiations over whether the United States will…
The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed militia M23 released a joint statement late on Wednesday announcing a commitment to end the conflict that has raged along the border of the two countries since January, killing thousands. The announcement came as a surprise to some observers. Felix Tshisekedi, the president of Congo, had long…
The leaders of the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda have called for a cease-fire in eastern Congo in a bid to end the latest deadly chapter in a three-decade conflict. Presidents Félix Tshisekedi of Congo and Paul Kagame of Rwanda committed to an “immediate and unconditional cease-fire,” according to a joint statement issued with…
Rwanda severed diplomatic ties on Monday with its former colonial ruler, Belgium, which has been pushing to penalize Rwanda over its invasion of the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo. Rwanda’s Foreign Ministry gave Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country. The diplomatic escalation came as the European Union, at the urging of Belgium, on…
Its soldiers are underpaid and underarmed. Its ranks are riddled with factions pursuing their own interests. And successive presidents are said to have kept it weak for fear of a coup. The Democratic Republic of Congo’s army has appeared too weak and dysfunctional to stop a militia that has swept through the eastern part of…