The Democratic Republic of Congo and the Rwanda-backed militia M23 released a joint statement late on Wednesday announcing a commitment to end the conflict that has raged along the border of the two countries since January, killing thousands.
The announcement came as a surprise to some observers. Felix Tshisekedi, the president of Congo, had long said his country would not negotiate directly with M23, which has lately occupied large swaths of Congolese territory, seizing cities and mines rich with critical minerals.
In the joint statement, the two sides said they shared a “commitment to an immediate cessation of hostilities,” and that they would work toward a lasting peace agreement.
Fred Bauma, the executive director of the Congolese research institute Ebuteli, called the joint statement “unprecedented,” given that Mr. Tshisekedi has said repeatedly that his country would only negotiate directly with Rwanda.
The United States and the United Nations have accused Rwanda of financing and directing M23, an accusation that Rwanda denies.
The announcement on Wednesday was a rare bright spot in a conflict that has roots going back three decades. In the mid-1990s, as a genocide gripped Rwanda, millions of people crossed into neighboring Congo, leading to two wars that together killed around six million people, according to U.N. experts. Since January, those hostilities have escalated again.
Rwanda claims that M23 is a Congolese rebel movement and Congo claims it is a front for Rwanda. The group says it is defending the interests of Congo’s Kinyarwanda-speaking communities, which it says the government has failed to do.
Thousands of Congolese have fled their homes while recent aid cuts have choked off much-needed humanitarian aid. Sexual violence has soared in the region: This month, the U.N.’s children’s agency said a child was reportedly raped in eastern Congo every half an hour. Some of the survivors were toddlers.
The joint statement said negotiations, which are being held in Qatar, would continue. But it was unclear if the talks would lead to more progress. Though the statement was carried on state television in Congo, Mr. Tshisekedi sent a deputy chief of immigration to head the discussions, a far more junior official than those who have attended previous talks.
Mr. Tshisekedi’s government is looking increasingly powerless in the conflict. Its weak military has been unable to recapture the territory it has lost to M23 since January, including the key cities of Goma and Bukavu.
Previous attempts to mediate between Congo and M23, including by Angola and Kenya, have stalled, with both sides pulling out of scheduled negotiations at the last minute. This week’s talks in Qatar managed to bring the two sides together.
“In this increasingly multipolar world there are spaces for non-Western, nontraditional mediators, and Qatar sees itself as filling that space,” said Kristian Coates Ulrichsen, a fellow at the Houston-based Baker Institute.
Qatar also hosted Mr. Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, last month, for talks that ended with the announcement of an “immediate and unconditional cease-fire.” But that truce was not implemented.
Although M23 withdrew from the key town of Walikale this month, the militia has captured other villages and repeatedly clashed with fighters allied with Congo’s Army, known as Wazalendo.
Neither side seems to believe a lasting peace agreement is near, Mr. Bauma said. “The Congolese government is still prioritizing the idea of defeating M23 militarily by any means,” he said. “I think both actors are banking on future escalation.”
Elian Peltier and Saikou Jammeh contributed reporting.
