The summit, which will take place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and is organised by the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), will bring together the presidents of the two countries involved in the escalating conflict in eastern DR Congo.
The high-level meeting will take place amid heightened tensions between Kinshasa and Kigali, after the armed group M23 and its allies in the Rwandan forces took Goma, the main city in eastern DR Congo, and continued to advance in the region.
Ahead of the summit, which will bring together the heads of state or government, a conference of foreign ministers will be held on Friday.
Kenyan President William Ruto announced on social media that both Tshisekedi and Kagame had confirmed their attendance, after both had avoided meeting in recent days.
The EFE news agency reports that the summit will also be attended by the Presidents of Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda and Somalia, in an attempt to strengthen regional commitment to try to ease tensions between the DR Congo and Rwanda.
The African Union mandated President João Lourenço to mediate between Rwanda and the DR Congo in efforts to bring peace to eastern DR Congo, but the conflict has intensified in recent weeks.
An offensive last week by the M23 – an armed group made up mostly of Tutsis, the ethnic group that was the victim of the 1994 Rwandan genocide – increased tensions with neighbouring Rwanda, with the Democratic Congolese government accusing it of supporting the rebels, an allegation confirmed by the UN.
Since 1998, eastern DR Congo has been mired in a conflict fuelled by rebel militias and the army, despite the presence of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO).
