The US Department of State has announced a plan to impose sanctions on senior Rwandan government officials over fueling instability in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
In a statement on Friday, the department said support M23 and violates the Washington Accord, which was signed by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Felix Tshesedeki of DRC.
“The Department of State will impose visa restrictions on several senior Rwandan officials for fueling instability in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
“By continuing to support M23 and violating the Washington Accords, these individuals are driving violence and undermining the stability of the entire Great Lakes Region,” the statement read.
The US Department of State said it expects all parties to the Washington Accords to fully implement their commitments, including by the DRC immediately neutralizing the FDLR armed group and its associated groups, and Rwanda withdrawing its troops and military equipment from the DRC.
“Only then will the immense economic potential of the Great Lakes region be realized. Individuals believed to be responsible for, complicit in, or directly or indirectly engaged in undermining or impeding a sustainable peace in the Great Lakes region will face consequences,” the statement added.
This comes days after the US government imposed sanctions on the Rwandan Defence Forces and four of its top officials over supporting the M23 movement.
The sanctioned RDF officials include the Army Chief of Staff Vincent Nyakarundi, Commander of the RDF’s 5th Infantry Division Ruki Karusisi, Chief of Defence Staff Mubarakh Muganga, and RDF’s Special Operations Force Commander Stanislas Gashugi.
“With support from the RDF, M23 has engaged in extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests, and torture. In January 2025, the RDF carried out attacks against Congolese armed forces, the Southern African Development Community Mission in the DRC, and defensive positions of the UN Organization Stabilization Mission in the DRC,” the US government claimed.
