Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) President Felix Tshisekedi said on Wednesday that his country is willing to partner with the US on a minerals-for-security deal.
Tshisekedi told Fox News host Bret Baier that such a partnership would allow DRC to extract and process its critical minerals to benefit US companies, while also building up the African country's defence and security capabilities.
"I think that the US is able to use either pressure or sanctions to make sure that armed groups who are in the DRC can be kept at bay," Tshisekedi said.
The DRC, which is rich in cobalt, lithium and uranium among other minerals, has been fighting Rwanda-backed M23 rebels who have seized swathes of its territory in the east of the country this year.