Congo’s M23 Rebels Consolidate Control Over a Devastated Goma 

Civilians fleeing ongoing clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo carry their belongings upon crossing the border into Rwanda at La Corniche Border Post in Gisenyi on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
Civilians fleeing ongoing clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo carry their belongings upon crossing the border into Rwanda at La Corniche Border Post in Gisenyi on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
TT
20

Congo’s M23 Rebels Consolidate Control Over a Devastated Goma 

Civilians fleeing ongoing clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo carry their belongings upon crossing the border into Rwanda at La Corniche Border Post in Gisenyi on January 29, 2025. (AFP)
Civilians fleeing ongoing clashes in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo carry their belongings upon crossing the border into Rwanda at La Corniche Border Post in Gisenyi on January 29, 2025. (AFP)

Rwandan-backed M23 rebels appeared to have consolidated their control over Goma, with eastern Congo's largest city mostly quiet on Wednesday apart from sporadic gunfire in some outlying districts, residents said.

Rebel fighters, supported by Rwandan troops, marched into the lakeside city of nearly 2 million on Monday in the worst escalation of a long-running conflict in more than a decade, leaving bodies lying in the streets and hospitals overwhelmed.

They seized the city's international airport on Tuesday, which could cut off the main route for aid to reach hundreds of thousands of displaced people.

"There are some sporadic shots that are heard here in the neighborhood. They are certainly Wazalendo," said one resident of the northern Majengo neighborhood, referring to militias that allied with the government in 2022 to resist M23 advances in the hinterlands.

The assault on Goma has led to widespread international condemnation of Rwanda and calls for a ceasefire. The United States urged the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday to consider unspecified measures to halt the offensive.

In a post on X, Rwandan President Paul Kagame said he had agreed in a phone call with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio on the need for a ceasefire but gave no indication of bowing to demands for a withdrawal from Goma.

"Had a productive conversation with Secretary Rubio on the need to ensure a ceasefire in Eastern DRC and address the root causes of the conflict once and for all," Kagame wrote.

Rubio told Kagame Washington was "deeply troubled" by the escalation and urged respect for "sovereign territorial integrity", the US State Department said in a statement.

M23 is the latest in a string of ethnic Tutsi-led, Rwandan-backed insurgencies that have roiled Congo since the aftermath of the genocide in Rwanda 30 years ago, when Hutu extremists killed Tutsis and moderate Hutus, and then were toppled by the Tutsi-led forces led by Kagame.

Rwanda says some of the ousted perpetrators have been sheltering in Congo since the genocide, forming militias with alliances with the Congolese government, and pose a threat to Congolese Tutsis and Rwanda itself.

Congo rejects Rwanda's complaints, and says Rwanda has used its proxy militias to control and loot lucrative minerals such as coltan, which is used in smartphones.

The Congolese and Rwandan army exchanged fire across their shared border on Monday, with Rwanda reporting at least nine deaths.

SPORADIC GUNFIRE, LOOTING

At a stadium in Goma on Tuesday, hundreds of unarmed government soldiers and militia fighters sat on the football pitch while others lined up in what the M23 fighters described as a disarmament process, according to an unverified video seen by Reuters.

Bertrand Bisimwa, who leads the M23's political wing, said on X that the last pockets of resistance in Goma had been put down.

"Our army is working hard to guarantee total security, complete tranquility and definitive peace as is the case for all their compatriots living in liberated zones," he said.

Congo and the head of UN peacekeeping have said Rwandan troops are present in Goma, backing their M23 allies. Rwanda has said it is defending itself against the threat from Congolese militias, without directly commenting on whether its troops have crossed the border.

M23 captured Goma in 2012 during its last major insurgency but withdrew after a few days following intense international pressure and threats to withdraw aid to Rwanda.

Analysts and diplomats say that kind of pressure is unlikely to materialize this time due to a reluctance by world powers to take on Rwanda, which has positioned itself as a stable partner in a tumultuous region.

In the Congolese capital Kinshasa, 1,600 km (1,000 miles) west of Goma, protesters attacked a UN compound and embassies including those of Rwanda, France and the United States on Tuesday, angered at what they said was foreign interference.

Goma's four main hospitals have treated at least 760 people wounded by the fighting, medical and humanitarian sources told Reuters on Tuesday, cautioning that an accurate death toll could not be established since many people were dying outside hospitals.

"We had to drain gasoline from ambulances to power the generator because there are people on respirators who couldn't survive without electricity," said the manager of one hospital in Goma.

"The injuries are often very severe. Some people die before they even get there."



Putin Thanks Saudi Leadership for Sponsoring ‘Positive’ Riyadh Talks

 A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
TT
20

Putin Thanks Saudi Leadership for Sponsoring ‘Positive’ Riyadh Talks

 A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)
A handout photo made available by the Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service shows Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) and Russian presidential aide Yury Ushakov (2-R) attending a meeting with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio (2-L), US National Security Advisor Mike Waltz (3-L) and US Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff (L), Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan bin Abdullah and Saudi National Security Advisor Dr. Musaed bin Mohammed Al-Aiban at Diriyah Palace in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 18 February 2025. (EPA / Russian Foreign Ministry Press Service)

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would like to meet with President Donald Trump but the meeting needs to be prepared to make it productive.

"I would like to have a meeting, but it needs to be prepared so that it brings results," Putin said in televised remarks. He added that he would be "pleased" to meet Trump.

Putin hailed the "positive" talks between senior Russian and US officials in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on Tuesday, noting that the parties agreed to restore the tattered diplomatic relations.

He expressed his gratitude to Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Salman bin Abdulaziz and Prince Mohammed bin Salman, Crown Prince and Prime Minister, for holding the talks in Riyadh.

"In my opinion, we have taken a first step to resume work in a variety of areas that are of mutual interest," Putin said. These included issues relating to the Middle East, global energy markets and cooperation in space, he said.

"Without increasing the level of trust between Russia and the United States, it is impossible to resolve many issues, including the Ukrainian crisis."

Ukraine and European governments were not invited to the talks in the Saudi capital, which heightened their concern that Russia and the United States might cut a deal that ignores their vital security interests.

But Putin said Russia had never rejected talks with the Europeans or with Kyiv, and it was they who had refused to talk to Moscow.

'NO ONE IS EXCLUDING UKRAINE,' PUTIN SAYS

"If they want, please, let these negotiations take place. And we will be ready to return to the table for negotiations," he said.

"No one is excluding Ukraine," he added, saying that there was therefore no need for a "hysterical" reaction to the US-Russia talks.

Putin praised the American's "restraint" in the face of what he called "boorish" behavior by US allies.

He said he would be "happy to meet with Donald".

"But we are in such a situation that it is not enough to meet to have tea, coffee, sit and talk about the future. We need to ensure that our teams prepare issues that are extremely important for both the United States and Russia, including - but not only - on the Ukrainian track, in order to reach solutions acceptable to both sides."

Putin said this would be no easy task. He said that Trump himself, who during the US election campaign repeatedly promised to end the Ukraine war in 24 hours, was now talking about a period of six months.

He said this was "natural" because Trump had simply begun to receive fresh information that changed his approach.