Africa-Press – Rwanda. Advancing Rwanda–Russia cooperation was the focus of discussions on the sidelines of the second ministerial conference of the Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, when foreign minister Amb. Olivier Nduhungirehe held a bilateral meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.
The second ministerial conference opened on Friday, December 19, in Cairo, Egypt. Foreign ministers from Russia, African nations, and regional organizations, discussed advancing the Russian-African partnership, with a focus on trade, economic cooperation, and investment.
In a post on X, Amb. Nduhungirehe on Saturday thanked Lavrov for “our constructive bilateral meeting yesterday in Cairo, during which we expressed satisfaction” on the growing Russia-Africa Partnership Forum, and reviewed the excellent bilateral cooperation and discussed on how to expand it.
He added: “We also exchanged on the situation in eastern DRC, which gave me the opportunity to express gratitude to my counterpart on the continued support of the Russian Federation to the ongoing peace processes.”
According to analysts, decades of poor governance in DR Congo, coupled with Kinshasa’s tolerance and support of FDLR – a terrorist militia formed by remnants of the perpetrators of the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda – have fuelled persistent insecurity and instability in the region. The latest fighting between the Congolese government army coalition and M23 rebels started in 2021. M23, a rebel group that resurfaced in November 2021 after nearly a decade of inactivity, is now part of a larger coalition, Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), created in December 2023.
The AFC/M23 movement is fighting for governance that supports basic human rights, secures all Congolese citizens, and addresses the root causes of conflict. Its leaders have vowed to uproot tribalism, nepotism, corruption, and genocide ideology, among other vices, widespread in DR Congo.
In the past few years, a vast Congolese army coalition backed by Burundi, SADC forces, FDLR, and Western mercenaries, worsened the security situation in eastern DR Congo. Kinshasa has relentlessly tried to drag neighbouring Rwanda into the conflict and war in its east, alleging that Kigali supports the bourgeoning AFC/M23 movement. Kigali – which has vowed to maintain defensive measures along the border with DR Congo as long as security threats from the Congolese army (FARDC) and its allies such as FDLR exist – has refuted the allegations.
When close to 300 Romanian mercenaries who were fighting alongside the Congolese army coalition were captured by the rebels early this year, Russia was the only member of the UN Security Council to condemn the silence by Western countries. In February, during a special sitting of the UN Security Council held to discuss the security crisis in eastern DR Congo, Russia’s Permanent Representative, Vassily Nebenzia, said that the silence of European states and America was at odds with their declared beliefs.
Nebenzia said: “We all saw they surrender weapons to MONUSCO peacekeepers, and footage of the subsequent transportation of European mercenaries to Kigali was broadcast around the world.
“We believe that those events do not entirely correspond with how Russia views the UNSC’s mandate of the mission.”
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