The US says Congo and Rwanda submit a draft peace proposal

GOMA, Congo — Congo and Rwanda have submitted a draft peace proposal as part of a U.S.-led process that could end fighting in resource-rich eastern Congo, a U.S. official said Monday.

U.S. President Donald Trump's senior adviser for Africa and the Middle East, Massad Boulos, said on social media that he welcomed the draft text ''received from both (Congo) and Rwanda,'' calling it ''an important step.''

Details of the draft were not immediately clear, including whether it offers to ease U.S. access to the region's critical minerals — something Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi has mentioned in return for U.S. help in calming the hostilities.

The decades-long conflict in eastern Congo escalated in January, when the Rwanda-backed M23 rebels seized the strategic city of Goma, followed by the city of Bukavu in February. The fighting has killed some 3,000 people and raised the fears of a wider regional war.

Eastern Congo has been in and out of crisis for decades. Dozens of armed groups are vying for territory in the mining region near the border with Rwanda. The conflict has created one of the world's largest humanitarian crises with more than 7 million people displaced, including 100,000 who fled homes this year.

Congo is the world's largest producer of cobalt, a mineral used to make lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles and smartphones. The country also has substantial gold, diamond and copper reserves.

Monday's draft peace proposal comes after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month oversaw the signing by Congo and Rwanda of a pledge to work toward a peace deal.

Rwanda's foreign minister, Olivier J.P. Nduhungirehe, told the Rwanda Broadcasting Agency on Monday that he would meet Congo's foreign minister in the third week of May to negotiate a final peace agreement.

He said he hoped the presidents of Rwanda and Congo would sign the agreement by mid-June at the White House in the presence of Trump and heads of state from the region.

''We hope that if all goes well, we are going to have a peace agreement which will allow us to achieve lasting peace in the region,'' Nduhungirehe said.

There was no immediate comment from Congo's authorities.

The M23 rebels are supported by about 4,000 troops from neighboring Rwanda, according to U.N. experts, and at times have vowed to march as far as Congo's capital, Kinshasa, about 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) to the west.

Congo and Rwanda hope the involvement of the U.S. — and the incentive of major investment if there's enough security for U.S. companies to work safely in eastern Congo — will calm the violence that has defied international peacekeeping and negotiation since the mid-1990s.

''A durable peace ... will open the door for greater U.S. and broader Western investment, which will bring about economic opportunities and prosperity,'' Rubio said, adding that it would ''advance President Trump's prosperity agenda for the world.''

Some analysts have warned that the U.S. could become involved in, or worsen, the militia violence, corruption, exploitation and rights abuses surrounding the mining of eastern Congo's riches.

Separately on Monday, Rwandan authorities confirmed that discussions were ''underway'' with the United States regarding a potential agreement for Rwanda to host deported migrants.