Photo: Alamy
President Donald Trump on Thursday inked another peace agreement at the newly renamed Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace, where he brought together the leaders of the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda.
“For more than thirty years, one of the worst conflicts on earth has been raging in [the] Eastern Congo, millions and millions of people have been tragically killed…and countless more have been displaced from their homes,” the president said.
“Many administrations have tried, but probably not too tired knowing who preceded me…to end this conflict, but they’ve accomplished obviously very little because the killing went on at levels that just got worse and worse,” he added.
The president alluded to final success in bringing an end to the violence between Rwanda and the Congo, noting, “Today we’re succeeding where so many others have failed.”
He said that this was the eighth conflict his administration had ended this year.
The agreement that was inked during an onstage signing ceremony on Thursday was called the “Washington Accords.”
President Trump said that this agreement formalized the terms agreed to earlier this year, which included a “permanent ceasefire, the disarmament of non-state forces, provisions for refugees to return to their homes, and justice and accountability for those who have committed illegal atrocities.”
He added, “Very importantly, this agreement creates a new framework for economic prosperity – there’s tremendous wealth in that beautiful earth…but it was stained badly with blood, tremendous amounts of blood.”
The president said that Rwanda and the Congo had agreed to do business with one another rather than fight. Somewhat facetiously, the president remarked, “They’ve spent a lot of time killing each other, and now they’re going to spend a lot of time hugging, holding hands, and taking advantage of the United States of America economically, like every other country does. So, they’re going to do very well.”
The president also announced that the U.S. agreed to sign bilateral agreements with both the Congo and Rwanda that would “unlock new opportunities for the United States to access critical minerals and provide economic benefits for everybody.”
