DRC-Rwanda Talks Reconvene in Geneva as FDLR Dispute Tests Washington Accords

September 16, 2026 — DRC and Rwanda delegations reconvened in Geneva for a two-day (Sep 16-17) meeting of the Joint Security Coordination Mechanism (JSCM), with mediators from the US, Qatar, Togo and the African Union Commission, to review implementation of the June 2025 Washington Accords. The central security commitments remain unresolved: the DRC is required to neutralize the FDLR (Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda), while Rwanda is required to disengage forces and lift defensive measures in step with that progress. The two sides remain divided over how 'neutralization' is defined — the DRC negotiated a disarmament deal with an FDLR faction in July, which Rwanda rejected as insufficient, while also accusing the DRC of continuing to support the group. Fighting continues in the eastern DRC provinces of North and South Kivu, where the M23 armed group captured Goma and Bukavu in 2025. The August 12-13 sixth JSCM meeting had produced agreement on strengthened ceasefire-violation monitoring and a planned October trilateral conference; a separate Qatar-led track produced the Doha Framework for Peace in November 2025.