WASHINGTON—President Donald Trump, along with the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi, and the president of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, signed a historic peace agreement dubbed the Washington Accords to officially bring an end to a decades-long conflict between the countries.
The leaders signed the Washington Accords at the recently renamed “Donald J. Trump Institute of Peace,” previously known as the Institute of Peace, on Thursday afternoon.
“In this holy season we prepare to celebrate the birth of the Prince of Peace, we have come to the U.S. Institute of Peace, to sign a historic agreement that will end one of the longest-running conflicts anywhere in the world, with far more than ten million people killed,” Trump said.
“Today, we commit to stopping decades of violence and bloodshed and to begin a new era of harmony and cooperation between the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda,” he added. “I want to thank the two courageous leaders. They are courageous leaders.”
Trump noted that he met with both Tshisekedi and Kagame in the Oval Office shortly before motorcading over to the Institute of Peace for the signing.
“We discussed the importance of upholding this new agreement — very detailed, powerful agreement,” he said.
Trump thanked a number of foreign leaders who were on hand for the ceremony, including Angolan President João Lourenço, Burundi President Évariste Ndayishimiye, Kenyan President William Ruto, President of the Council of Ministers of Togo Faure Gnassingbé, Ugandan Vice President Jessica Alupo, and the foreign ministers of Qatar.
He also expressed gratitude to Secretary of State Marco Rubio and U.S. Senior Advisor for Arab and African Affairs Massad Boulos.
“All of these people, every one of them, were indispensable in forging this agreement,” he said.
Trump noted that, in addition to achieving a “permanent ceasefire, the disarmament of non-state forces, provisions for refugees to return to their homes, and justice and accountability for those who have committed illegal atrocities,” the accords establish an economic framework.
“Very importantly, this agreement also creates a new framework for economic prosperity. There’s tremendous wealth in that beautiful earth… but it was stained badly with blood, tremendous amounts of blood. But in the region that will support a lasting peace,” he said.
“The Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda have agreed to more closely integrate their economies with each other rather than fighting, and they’ll be doing that,” he added.
Trump also noted he will be inking bilateral economic agreements with both countries.
“We’ll be involved with sending some of our biggest and greatest companies over to the two countries, and we’re going to take out some of the rare earth, and take out some of the assets and pay, and everybody’s going to make a lot of money,” he said.
Kagame and Tshisekedi spoke after Trump, with both men praising the president for his role in bringing a peace deal to fruition.
“The biggest word of thanks goes to President Donald Trump. No one was asking President Trump to take up this task. Our region is far from the headlines, but when the President saw the opportunity to contribute to peace, he immediately took it,” Kagame said.
“This conflict has lasted for 30 years. We have seen countless mediations and efforts, but none had succeeded in resolving the underlying issues,” he added, noting that Trump’s approach established an environment for “breakthroughs.”
He emphasized that Trump “is even-handed,” did not take sides, has a forward-looking approach, and is “pragmatic,” before going on to thank Rubio and Boulos.
Tshisekedi expressed his “deep thanks” to Trump, also expressing gratitude to the administration as well as the American people.
He said, per a real-time translation, that the Washington Accords “provide to the peoples of the region a new perspective, a new outlook, namely, to finally overcome the cycle of violence, of forced displacements, of mistrust, defiance, in order to begin a new era of friendship, cooperation, and prosperity, all shared together.”
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