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The DRC has labeled the European Union's ongoing minerals deal with Rwanda as exhibiting "evident contradiction" while implementing far more extensive restrictions in response to the war in Ukraine.

Foreign Minister's Strong Criticism

Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner, the DRC's foreign minister, called for the EU to impose much stronger sanctions against Rwanda, which has been accused of fueling the violence in DRC's eastern territories.

"This demonstrates evident hypocrisy – I want to be helpful here – that makes us curious and inquisitive about understanding why the EU again struggles so much to enact sanctions," she stated.

Ceasefire Deal History

The DRC and Rwanda ratified a peace agreement in June, mediated by the US and Qatar, designed to resolve the decades-old hostilities.

However, lethal incidents on ordinary citizens have persisted and a deadline to establish a final settlement was missed in August.

UN Report

Last year, a United Nations panel found that up to 4,000 Rwandan troops were fighting alongside the M23 insurgent faction and that the Rwandan military was in "de facto control of M23 operations."

Rwanda has consistently denied supporting M23 and asserts its forces act in self-protection.

Diplomatic Request

The DRC president, Félix Tshisekedi, recently called upon his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, to end assistance to rebel forces in the DRC during a international conference attended by both leaders.

"This demands you to instruct the M23 troops assisted by your country to end this escalation, which has already led to enough casualties," the leader emphasized.

European Measures

The EU has placed sanctions on 32 individuals and two organizations – a armed faction and a Rwandan mineral treatment facility dealing in illegal supplies of the metal – for their participation in intensifying the conflict.

Despite these conclusions of human rights abuses by the Rwandan army in the DRC, the Brussels administration has declined calls to cancel a 2024 mining agreement with Kigali.

Resource Concerns

Wagner labeled the memorandum of understanding with Rwanda as "completely untrustworthy in a context where it has been established that Rwanda has been diverting Congolese resources" obtained under brutal conditions of coerced employment, including children.

The United States and various countries have expressed alarm about unauthorized transactions in gold and tantalum in Congo's eastern region, obtained via coerced employment, then trafficked to Rwanda for export to benefit rebel organizations.

Regional Emergency

The conflict in DRC's eastern territories remains one of the world's worst human catastrophes, with over 7.8 million people internally displaced in the region and 28 million facing hunger issues, including 4 million at emergency levels, according to UN data.

Global Involvement

As the DRC's principal negotiator, Wagner signed the accord with Rwanda at the US presidential residence in June, which also seeks to give the United States expanded opportunity to DRC minerals.

She maintained that the US remains participating in the diplomatic negotiations and rejected allegations that primary interest was the DRC's vast mineral wealth.

International Collaboration

The Brussels chief, Ursula von der Leyen, commenced a gathering by declaring that the EU wanted "collaboration based on common interests and respect for sovereignty."

She featured the Lobito corridor – rail, road and water transport links – joining the resource-rich areas of the DRC and Zambia to Angola's ocean access.

Wagner acknowledged that the EU and DRC had a solid basis in the Lobito project, but "significant aspects has been overshadowed by the crisis in Congo's east."