The Angolan Presidency has confirmed that Luanda will host direct peace talks in the coming days between the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the M23 rebel group.
Angola made the announcement on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, following a brief visit by DRC President Félix Tshisekedi to Luanda.
The M23 rebels, part of the Alliance Fleuve Congo (AFC), have taken control of Goma and Bukavu, two major cities in eastern DR Congo.
This has forced government troops—along with their coalition partners, including Burundian forces, troops from the Southern African Development Community (SADC), European mercenaries, FDLR, a UN-sanctioned militia linked to the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda and local armed groups known as Wazalendo—to either flee or surrender.
According to the Angolan Presidency, President João Lourenço “will establish contacts with the M23 so that delegations from [DR Congo] and the M23 can engage in direct negotiations in Luanda in the coming days, with the goal of achieving lasting peace in that brotherly country.”
This could mark the first direct engagement between the Congolese government and the M23 rebel group.
President Tshisekedi has consistently rejected direct talks with M23.
He also did not personally attend the East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC) summit in Dar es Salaam on February 8, where regional leaders discussed pathways to peace in eastern Congo.
One key resolution from that summit was a formal request urging the DRC government to engage in talks with M23 to find a lasting solution to the conflict. While M23 welcomed the proposal, the Kinshasa administration remained opposed to negotiations—until now.