In a statement published by the UK Government, the International Contact Group said the continued conflict in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo remains a direct obstacle to regional stability and prosperity. It restated support for peace efforts involving Qatar, the United States, African Union-appointed mediator Faure Gnassingbé, the Panel of Facilitators and other regional partners. The wording is significant because it treats the current diplomacy as a connected process rather than a set of separate initiatives. For policy readers, the message is that the contact group wants external mediation, regional diplomacy and UN-backed mechanisms to operate in parallel, not in competition.
The statement welcomes progress under two tracks: the Washington Accords between the DRC and Rwanda, and the Doha Framework Agreement between the DRC and the Alliance Fleuve Congo/March 23 Movement, or AFC/M23. That distinction matters. One track addresses interstate commitments between Kinshasa and Kigali, while the other concerns negotiations linked to armed conflict inside the eastern DRC. By placing both agreements in the same statement, the ICG is signalling that any viable settlement has to cover cross-border tensions and the armed actors operating on Congolese territory. Movement on one track without progress on the other would leave the wider process exposed.
According to the published statement, talks in Montreux, Switzerland, between 13 and 19 April produced practical commitments by the Government of the DRC and AFC/M23. These included support for humanitarian operations, a commitment to release prisoners, and implementation of the Ceasefire Oversight and Verification Mechanism. The statement also notes that the mechanism is supported by the International Conference on the Great Lakes Region and MONUSCO. In policy terms, that shifts the discussion from political intent to compliance architecture: monitoring, verification and confidence-building steps that can be tested against conduct on the ground.
The ICG also points to the 23 April meeting in Washington DC, where the DRC and Rwanda convened the Joint Oversight Committee. It welcomes both governments' stated commitment to uphold the Washington Accords and explicitly recalls the need to implement United Nations Security Council Resolution 2773. The same passage links bilateral oversight to a wider political requirement inside the DRC. The contact group says there must be conditions for inclusive inter-Congolese dialogue involving key Congolese stakeholders, and it welcomes the consultations undertaken by Angola. The practical reading is clear: external guarantees, regional facilitation and domestic dialogue are being treated as mutually reinforcing parts of the same peace effort.
The statement urges all parties to build on the current momentum, honour both recent and earlier agreements, and remain in negotiations. Its clearest line is that there can be no military solution to the conflict. That phrasing is familiar in conflict diplomacy, but here it serves a precise function. It sets a benchmark for future conduct and makes implementation, rather than battlefield movement, the test of seriousness. For officials tracking the process, the central question is not whether talks exist, but whether the parties use them to reduce violence and sustain the ceasefire.
Civilian protection sits at the centre of the ICG message. All parties, it says, must protect civilians in line with international humanitarian law. The statement is direct about the escalating use of drones by various actors, including state actors, and says that this has contributed to a rising number of civilian casualties. It calls for stronger civil-military coordination and liaison mechanisms, better notification procedures and the pre-identification of humanitarian infrastructure. Those are technical measures, but they have immediate operational value. Without them, aid agencies, medical facilities and civilian sites remain exposed even when political talks appear to be moving forward.
The ICG says political progress must now produce visible changes on the ground. It calls for the ceasefire to be respected by all parties and for humanitarian relief personnel to be granted safe, rapid and unimpeded access. The statement identifies several practical steps: sustained reopening of Goma and Kavumu airports, safe humanitarian corridors in North and South Kivu, and simpler administrative procedures. For humanitarian operators, these are not secondary issues. Airport access, road access and paperwork rules determine whether food, medicines and personnel can reach affected communities at speed. The statement therefore frames access not as an optional confidence-building measure, but as a basic test of whether the current agreements are working.
The published statement adds a further pressure point: the Ebola outbreak in the eastern DRC. It says the World Health Organization declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 17 May, and that Africa CDC declared a Public Health Emergency of Continental Security on 18 May. In the ICG's assessment, that public health risk adds to an already fragile humanitarian picture and strengthens the case for regional cooperation. The closing message is anchored in the Peace, Security and Cooperation Framework for the DRC and the region. The contact group says it will continue supporting regional partners in tackling the drivers of conflict, while stressing that inclusive governance, accountability and the safeguarding of rights are necessary for long-term stability. That places the ceasefire within a wider policy sequence: emergency de-escalation first, then institutional conditions that reduce the risk of repeated violence.