Kinshasa, January 12th, 2026 (CPA). – The security crisis in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), which is under attack from Rwanda, has been on the agenda for talks on Monday in Lome, Togo, between the President of the Togolese Council and designated mediator of the African Union (AU), Faure Gnassingbe, and President Tshisekedi, who was on a working visit to the Togolese capital, according to the Congolese Presidency.
‘The President of DRC, Felix Tshisekedi, has travelled to Lome on Monday for a working visit at the invitation of the President of the Togolese Council and designated mediator of the African Union in the crisis between Rwanda and DRC, Faure Gnassingbe. The meeting has focused on the security situation in eastern DRC,’ the source has indicated. The meeting between the two statesmen also comes ahead of a high-level summit scheduled for January 17th in the Togolese capital, dedicated to the coherence and consolidation of the peace process in DRC and throughout the Great Lakes region. The aim is to strengthen trust between the parties involved and to create a clearer and more effective dynamic around existing diplomatic efforts. This Togolese initiative is in line with international efforts already underway. Prior to this, and in close coordination with Lome, France had organised a Conference in Support of Peace and Prosperity in the Great Lakes Region in Paris on October 30th, 2025. This meeting raised more than €1.5 billion for vulnerable populations, while supporting the negotiation process led jointly by the United States, Qatar and the African Union. Two weeks ago, the two leaders had held another one-on-one meeting in Kinshasa, again focusing on the on-going security crisis caused by the Kigali regime’s deliberate decision to continue its aggression instead of honouring the commitments made in the peace agreement signed on December 4th between the two states, with the mediation of the US authorities. Faure Gnassingbe has succeeded Angolan President Joao Lourenço as the AU’s designated mediator, after his appointment was approved by the relevant bodies of the pan-African organisation. His mandate provides for close coordination with the facilitators of the merged Luanda and Nairobi peace processes, in accordance with the decisions of the joint virtual summit of the East African Community (EAC) and the Southern African Development Community (SADC) held on March 24th, 2025. In addition, the Congolese Head of State, Felix Tshisekedi, had made two successive working visits to Luanda, Angola, in recent weeks to meet with his counterpart, the current AU President, Joao Lourenço, as part of efforts to resolve the conflict diplomatically, following the processes in Washington, United States of America, and Doha, Qatar. In a statement read at the end of this bilateral meeting, President Lourenço had called on all parties involved to agree to an immediate and unconditional ceasefire and to respect the Washington and Doha agreements. ACP/