Madar (Kinshasa) - Democratic Republic of Congo President Felix Tshisekedi on Friday, October 30, 2026, asked Russian President Vladimir Putin to help end a standoff with neighbouring Rwanda, which Kinshasa accuses of helping an armed group fighting the government, Africanews reported, citing AFP.
During talks with Putin at the end of the Russia-Africa summit in Moscow, Tshisekedi said he "absolutely" wanted the help of Russia, a permanent member of the UN Security Council, "in the search for peace" with Rwanda.
Tshisekedi also sought Putin's support at the Security Council to renew the mandate of MONUSCO, the UN peacekeeping force in DR Congo, which ends in December.
Eastern DR Congo has been torn apart by more than three decades of conflict, and since 2021 the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has become a key opponent of the government. Kinshasa and Kigali reached a US-mediated peace accord in December, but fighting has continued.
Tshisekedi's government has repeatedly demanded the withdrawal of Rwandan forces from DR Congo. President Paul Kagame's government denies any involvement, but UN experts say Rwandan forces are still helping the M23. Rwanda, for its part, demands that DR Congo neutralise the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), a militia founded by former Rwandan Hutu officials responsible for the 1994 genocide of the Tutsi and active in eastern DR Congo.
The source did not report any Russian response to Tshisekedi's requests.
