Angola announced on Thursday that the presidents of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda are expected to meet soon to discuss ways to bring peace to the troubled eastern DRC region of North Kivu.

The country has been mediating the conflict in the eastern DRC region of North Kivu, where M23 rebels have been fighting DRC forces since 2021.

The M23 are in control of vast swathes of territory and are almost laying siege to Goma, the provincial capital and largest city in North Kivu, killing scores of people and displacing thousands more.

To quell the turmoil, diplomatic discussions have been ongoing for several months to facilitate a meeting between Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and DRC’s President Felix Tshisekedi.

On Thursday, Angolan President Joao Lourenco, during a visit to Côte d’Ivoire, expressed concern over the situation in North Kive and said that “we are currently negotiating, at ministerial level, to be able to bring together very soon the two heads of state of the DRC and Rwanda for a direct exchange on the pressing need to reach a definitive peace.”

“Doubtless, the only way out is to resolve this conflict around the negotiating table. That is what we are about,” Lourenco said at Abidjan’s presidential palace.

However, in a dramatic twist, DRC’s newly sworn-in Prime Minister Judith Suminwa Tuluka on Thursday foreclosed any negotiations with Rwanda, instead calling for “strong actions and targeted sanctions” against Kigali.

“I believe that the Head of State has been clear: We are not going to negotiate with the people attacking us,” Suminwa Tuluka said during a visit to Goma.

DR Congo’s mineral-rich east has been beset with violence for over 30 years by armed groups who are fighting for control over the resources.