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The DRC has described the European Union's persistent minerals agreement with Rwanda as demonstrating "obvious double standards" while implementing much broader sanctions in response to the war in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister's Firm Condemnation

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the Congo's top diplomat, demanded the EU to impose much stronger restrictions against Rwanda, which has been charged with intensifying the violence in Congo's eastern region.

"It represents obvious inconsistency – I want to be constructive here – that has us questioning and interested about grasping why the EU repeatedly finds it difficult so much to enact sanctions," she stated.

Ceasefire Deal History

The DRC and Rwanda agreed to a conflict resolution in June, facilitated by the US and Qatar, designed to conclude the protracted conflict.

However, deadly attacks on ordinary citizens have endured and a time limit to achieve a lasting resolution was missed in August.

International Findings

Last year, a United Nations panel found that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 insurgent faction and that the Rwandan military was in "effective direction of M23 operations."

Rwanda has continually refuted supporting M23 and claims its forces act in self-defence.

Presidential Appeal

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently appealed to his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to stop supporting armed groups in the DRC during a European gathering attended by both leaders.

"This requires you to command the M23 troops backed by your country to halt this escalation, which has already caused numerous casualties," the leader emphasized.

EU Sanctions

The EU has enacted measures targeting 32 people and two organizations – a militant group and a Rwandan gold refiner handling illegal supplies of the metal – for their involvement in prolonging the conflict.

Despite these conclusions of rights violations by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the European Commission has rejected demands to cancel a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Mineral Issues

Wagner characterized the agreement with Rwanda as "void of any credibility in a context where it has been established that Rwanda has been illegally extracting African wealth" extracted under harsh circumstances of coerced employment, affecting children.

The United States and various countries have expressed alarm about illicit commerce in mineral resources in eastern Congo, obtained via compulsory work, then trafficked to Rwanda for shipment to benefit militant factions.

Humanitarian Crisis

The unrest in Congo's east remains one of the world's gravest humanitarian crises, with over 7.8 million people forced from homes in eastern DRC and 28 million confronting food insecurity, including 4 million at emergency levels, according to UN assessments.

International Engagement

As the DRC's chief diplomat, Wagner approved the agreement with Rwanda at the US presidential residence in June, which also attempts to give the United States expanded opportunity to Congolese natural resources.

She asserted that the US remains participating in the diplomatic negotiations and rejected claims that sole motivation was the DRC's vast mineral wealth.

EU Cooperation

The European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, opened a conference by declaring that the EU wanted "cooperation based on common interests and honoring independence."

She featured the Lobito corridor – rail, road and water transport links – linking the resource-rich areas of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's ocean access.

Wagner recognized that the EU and DRC had a solid basis in the Lobito project, but "significant aspects has been eclipsed by the conflict in the troubled region."