Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday signed a US-brokered peace accord in Washington aimed at ending three decades of bloodshed in eastern Congo. Foreign ministers Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner and Olivier Nduhungirehe formalised the agreement in the State Department’s Treaty Room, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio serving as witness. President Donald Trump later hosted the delegations at the White House, hailing the pact as “a new chapter of hope.” The deal obliges both neighbours to respect each other’s borders, halt support for non-state armed groups and create a joint security coordination mechanism. It also calls for Rwandan forces to withdraw from eastern Congo within 90 days and lays the groundwork for economic cooperation, including US access to critical minerals. The accord targets a conflict that the United Nations says has killed more than six million people since the 1990s and displaced about seven million, with several hundred thousand uprooted this year alone after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized key cities in North and South Kivu. UN Secretary-General António Guterres welcomed the signing as “a significant step toward de-escalation, peace and stability” in the Great Lakes region. Qatar and African Union mediator Faure Gnassingbé helped shepherd the talks and will host a fresh round of negotiations in Doha between Kinshasa and the M23 insurgents. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, while voicing support for the accord, warned he would respond to any “tricks” by Congo, underscoring concerns among analysts that the exclusion of M23 from the signing leaves crucial issues unresolved. Implementation and accountability, they say, will determine whether the Washington agreement can translate into lasting peace.