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KAMPALA, Uganda (AP) — U.K. authorities said Tuesday that they were punishing Rwanda over its alleged support of the rebels who now control two major cities in eastern Congo.
The measures include pausing direct financial aid that doesn't include support to the poorest Rwandans. The United Kingdom also will stop “high-level attendance at events hosted by” Rwanda’s government, in addition to limiting trade promotion activities with the east African country, the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office said in a statement.
The U.K. government will also coordinate with others “on potential new sanctions designations,” the statement said. Other measures include the suspension of future defense training assistance and a review of export licenses for the Rwandan army.
It wasn't immediately clear how much the U.K. gives Rwanda in direct financial aid.
The measures will pile pressure on Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who previously has been defiant over his country’s efforts to secure its border with a largely lawless part of eastern Congo.
Kagame faces growing charges of aggression in neighboring Congo. About 4,000 Rwandan troops are fighting alongside M23 rebels in eastern Congo, where the rebels now control the capitals of the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, according to a report by U.N. experts.
M23 is the most powerful of the many armed groups vying for a foothold in Congo’s east, a region possessing trillions of dollars in largely untapped mineral resources crucial for global technology.
Congo's President Félix Tshisekedi has ruled out peace talks with M23 rebels even as they acquire more territory, accusing them of being a proxy army for Rwanda in a plot to illegally exploit his country's natural wealth.
Rwandan authorities described the U.K. measures as punitive and regrettable.
“It is unreasonable to expect Rwanda to compromise its national security and the safety of Rwandans,” the government said in a statement posted on X. “The measures do nothing to help (Congo), nor do they contribute to achieving a sustainable political solution to the conflict in eastern (Congo).”
The U.S. has sanctioned a key member of Kagame's government for his alleged role in the M23 rebellion.
The European Union’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, this week called Congo’s territorial integrity “non-negotiable.” She said EU defense consultations with Rwanda have been suspended and that their memorandum of understanding regarding critical raw materials, signed a year ago, will be under review.
The EU and Rwanda also cooperate on peacekeeping missions in Mozambique and elsewhere.
The U.N. has warned that fighting in eastern Congo poses a wider threat to the region, which has seen decades of simmering conflict that has displaced millions.
