Angola will step down from its position as a mediator between parties involved in an escalating Rwanda-backed rebel offensive in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Presidency said on Monday, with another African state set to lead efforts to get peace talks back on track.
The ethnic Tutsi-led M23 escalated their long-standing rebellion this year, seizing east DRC's two biggest cities since January and encroaching into territory rich in minerals such as gold and tantalum.
As the rotating AU chairperson, Angola's President Joao Lourenco had been trying to mediate a lasting ceasefire and lower tensions between the DRC and neighbouring Rwanda, which has been accused of backing the M23. Rwanda denies this.
The DRC and M23 were scheduled to hold direct talks for the first time in Angola's capital Luanda last week after the DRC's [President Felix Tshisekedi](https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2025-03-20-drcs-tshisekedi-willing-to-partner-with-us-on-minerals-for-security-deal/), who had long refused dialogue with the rebels, agreed to send a delegation.
M23 [pulled out at the last minute](https://www.timeslive.co.za/news/africa/2025-03-18-m23-rebels-pull-out-of-peace-talks-with-drc-after-eu-sanctions/) after EU sanctions against the M23 and Rwandan officials.
“Angola considers the need to free itself from the responsibility of the mediator of this conflict” to “devote itself more” to the AU's overall priorities, the Presidency said in a statement that mentioned the “aborted” meeting in Luanda.