Kinshasa — The peace summit between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, mediated by Angola and scheduled to take place yesterday, Sunday 15 December, in the Angolan capital Luanda, has been cancelled. The cancellation of the summit between the heads of state of Angola, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda has caused immediate reactions in North Kivu, in the east of the Democratic Republic, where the M23 rebels have taken over the town of Matembe.

The aim of the summit, which was scheduled to take place yesterday, was to reach an agreement between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, which have long been at odds over accusations made by Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi against his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame of supporting the M23. Angolan President Joao Lourenço was appointed by the African Union as mediator in the crisis between the two countries.

But it was precisely the last-minute condition imposed by Rwanda that a direct dialogue be held between Kinshasa and the M23 that caused the summit to fail. The Congolese leadership does not intend to recognize the M23 as a negotiating partner, as it considers it a "terrorist movement" supported by Kigali.

The cancelled summit was supposed to sign an agreement providing for the withdrawal of Rwandan troops from Congolese territory and the commitment of the Kinshasa army to "neutralize" the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), an armed group that originally emerged from the Hutu militias of the 1994 genocide and has operated in the east of the DRC for decades, within 90 days.

The presence of the FDLR is used by Rwanda as a pretext to justify its military intervention in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo and its support for the M23. Meanwhile, according to local sources, the M23 troops, heavily armed and even equipped with armored vehicles, overwhelmed the defenses erected by the Congolese army yesterday, December 15.

The advance of the M23 caused the local population to flee and worsened the humanitarian conditions in the area, already at risk due to the large number of displaced people due to the violence perpetrated not only by the M23 but also by other armed groups.