According to a statement released on Thursday night by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the meeting is the result of meetings held separately by the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, mediator of the conflict appointed by the African Union, with the Presidents of DRCongo, Félix Tshisekedi and Rwanda's Paul Kagame, in February and March 2024, respectively.
"Both parties agreed to hold the aforementioned meeting, following consultations carried out by Angolan mediation and in accordance with the conclusions of the First Session of the Ministerial Meeting that took place in Luanda, on March 21, 2024, which, among others, decided the holding a second session", states the statement.
The Luanda Process is an initiative by the President of the Republic that aims to resolve the conflict in eastern DRCongo by promoting dialogue between Kinshasa and Kigali, which allegedly supports the M23 rebels.
Since 1998, eastern DRCongo has been mired in conflict fueled by rebel militias and the army, despite the presence of the UN peacekeeping mission (MONUSCO).
At the end of 2021, the M23 rebel movement and Rwandan army troops advanced into North Kivu province, where they defeated the Congolese army and its allies, having even created a parallel government in the areas they control.
Until the end of last year, Rwandan authorities publicly denied having placed their army alongside the M23 rebels, but since the beginning of this year, Kigali has not denied the information.
For several months now, the United States, France, Belgium and the European Union have been asking Rwanda to withdraw its troops and military equipment from Congolese territory and to end support for the M23, but the requests have not been met, until now, attended to.
Rwanda and M23 accuse the Congolese army of cooperating with the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), founded in 2000 by leaders of the 1994 genocide and other Rwandans (Hutus) exiled in DRCongo to regain political power in their country.
On Wednesday, the United States announced a "15-day extension of the humanitarian truce".
This extension "will be in force until 11:59 pm local time on 3 August" and obliges the belligerents "to silence their weapons and allow humanitarian personnel unhindered access to vulnerable populations", according to a statement from the White House National Security Council.
The first two weeks of the humanitarian truce were announced by the White House on July 5 and, since then, the fighting has decreased in intensity, but the truce has not been respected in some areas.
