Kinshasa, April 30th, 2025 (CPA).- The Democratic Republic of Congo is moving in the right direction towards total and definitive peace, following the signing of the Washington Declaration of Principles in the United States of America, according to the Congolese President, at a press briefing on Tuesday in Kinshasa.
‘The signing of the declarations of principles that you have seen is a step in the right direction. The direction I have always wanted to take my country. I made this commitment to my people and I will keep it to the end. I will bring total and definitive peace’, declared Félix Tshisekedi, answering a question from the press about the assurances of this diplomatic approach. ‘After what you are seeing, there will no longer be a problem of instability in the Democratic Republic of Congo’, he reassured. At the joint press briefing with his Congolese counterpart, President Umaro Sissoco of Guinea-Bissau encouraged the government to continue its efforts to seek peace with neighboring countries.
‘The one thing we can ask for is to seek peace, because we are Africans first (…) I think that if both sides agree on peace, that would be a good thing’, he said. For the American government, satisfied with this first step, this ‘Declaration of Principles’ maps out a path towards peace, stability and integrated economic development in the eastern DRC, an essential element in putting an end to the conflict and enabling the region to reach its full potential, according to the meeting’s final communiqué.
The agreement in principle signed by the parties covers the following areas: ‘respect for the territorial integrity of each country; promotion of the regional economy; support for the United Nations Mission in Congo (Monusco); commitment to peacekeeping’, said Therese Kayikwamba Wagner, the DRC’s Minister in charge of Foreign Affairs, in her remarks after the ceremony.