The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwandan-backed M23 rebels have re-started peace talks in Qatar as part of a diplomatic effort to end fighting in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The two sides has last met in Doha in April to discuss a deal that would end fighting this year that has killed thousands, displaced hundreds of thousands more and raised fears of a wider regional war.
An official with knowledge of the talks in Doha told journalists that the latest round began on May 3rd 2025 and the negotiations are being held in a positive atmosphere, and both parties have expressed optimism about the dialogue.
However, two rebel sources said M23 had sent a lower-level delegation than in the earlier round last month, and complained that government delegations had not been empowered to make any decisions in Doha and also said government officials had not done enough on confidence-building measures such as the release of suspected M23 members held by Democratic Republic of Congo.
A government spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment and a source in Democratic Republic of Congo President’s office President said that Kinshasa’s priority was peace and it was open to amnesty in some cases.
In statements released after last month’s talks, both sides committed to ending acts of violence and hate speech and called on the Congolese people to support a ceasefire and help create a constructive environment for dialogue.
However, participants complained that the talks had quickly become bogged down in technical details and fighting in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo has since continued and to U.N. humanitarian office said that armed clashes in North Kivu province had displaced at least 30,000 people since Friday last week.
Qatar has been involved in talks to end the ongoing flare-up of violence in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, a conflict that goes back 3 decades ago and is rooted in the Rwandan genocide, but since brokering a surprise meeting between Felix Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame in March, there seemed hope that the war would come to an end.
The United Nations and Western governments have continuously claimed that Rwanda has provided arms and troops to M23, a claim the Government of Rwanda has vehemently denied saying that its military are merely acting in self-defence against Congo’s army and a militia founded by perpetrators of the 1994 genocide.
Washington is also trying to broker peace between Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, pushing for a deal along with bilateral economic packages with each country to be finalized by July and President Donald Trump’s senior adviser for Africa, Massad Bouloshas said the bilateral deals would bring billions of dollars of Western investment to a region rich in several minerals.
