The Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda on Friday signed a peace deal facilitated by the U.S. to help end the decades-long deadly fighting in eastern Congo while helping the U.S. government and American companies gain access to critical minerals in the region, APA reports citing AP.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio called it “an important moment after 30 years of war.” Earlier Friday, President Donald Trump said at a news conference that he was able to broker a deal for “one of the worst wars anyone’s ever seen.”
“I was able to get them together and sell it,” Trump said. “And not only that, we’re getting for the United States a lot of the mineral rights from Congo.”
The deal has been touted as an important step toward peace in the Central African nation of Congo, where conflict with more than 100 armed groups, the most potent backed by Rwanda, has killed millions since the 1990s.