No conditions exist yet for UN peacekeepers to withdraw from North Kivu province while Rwandan troops remain there, Congolese foreign minister Therese Kayikwamba Wagner said on Saturday.
"The current situation with the presence of Rwandan troops, the aggression by Rwanda makes it very difficult to envisage such a situation right now," she told Reuters. "So we are following the evolution of the context in order to find the most suitable moment to start this process."
Wagner noted that Congo's efforts to highlight Rwanda's role in the M23 conflict were beginning to pay off, expressing hope that this would lead to the imposition of targeted sanctions, according to the report.
The withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from the DRC began in January. The UN Stabilization Mission in the DRC (MONUSCO) has already handed over a dozen bases and facilities to the Congolese authorities. All contingents on the mission must leave the DRC by the end of this year.
The leadership of the DRC accused MONUSCO in the summer of 2023 of insufficient support for government forces fighting the rebels in the east of the country. At the same time, the Congolese government sent a request to the UN Security Council for the withdrawal of UN peacekeepers from the territory of the country. Last December, the Security Council agreed to this while simultaneously extending the mandate of MONUSCO for a year.
The eastern region of the DRC has faced persistent insecurity due to numerous rebel factions, particularly the M23 group. This instability has resulted in significant population displacement, with millions having to abandon their homes, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.