Rwanda is illegally occupying the Democratic Republic of Congo and attempting to orchestrate regime change, the country’s foreign minister has told the BBC.
Thérèse Kayikwamba Wagner said this followed decades of impunity and failure to hold Rwandan President Paul Kagame accountable for violating international law.
Her comments come after Rwanda-backed M23 rebels captured the eastern Comgolese city of Goma and threatened to continue their offensive to the capital, Kinshasa, which is 2,600km (1,600 miles) away.
Rwanda’s government spokeswoman Yolande Makolo denied the accusation and said its troops were deployed to prevent the conflict spilling over to its territory.
“We’re not interested in war, we’re not interested in annexation, we’re not interested in regime change,” Ms Makolo told the BBC’s Newsday programme.
The Southern African Development Community (Sadc), a regional bloc made up of 16 members, is holding a special meeting on Friday in Zimbabwe to discuss the situation in DR Congo.
Sadc has sent peacekeeping troops, primarily from South Africa, to DR Congo to combat armed groups like the M23 and restore peace in the mineral-rich region after decades of unrest.
Sixteen soldiers from southern African countries have been killed in clashes with the M23 around Goma in the past week.
In a war of words with his South African counterpart, Rwanda’s President Kagame said the Sadc troops were “not a peacekeeping force, and it has no place in this situation”.
The fighting has worsened the humanitarian crisis in eastern DR Congo as the M23 has captured large areas of North Kivu province.
Shelley Thakral, from the UN’s World Food Programme (WFP) said that people in Goma were running out of food, clean water and medical supplies.
“The supply chain has really been strangled at the moment if you think about land access, air access, when everything is closed down,” she told the AFP news agency.
Since the start of 2025, more than 400,000 people have been forced from their homes, according to the UN’s refugee agency.
Ms Makolo asserted that Rwanda’s troops were securing their borders in response to “repeated violations” including fatalities from cross-border shelling.
“The DRC needs to do a better job of getting their territory in order. That is their responsibility,” she said.
Ms Wagner called for a halt to foreign aid being sent to Rwanda and sanctions to be placed on the leaders “enabling this warfare”.
She also called for Rwanda’s troops to be suspended from UN peacekeeping missions around the world.
“We have to witness a country that presents itself as a peace-bringer in other countries, be(ing) a warmonger in the Great Lakes region,” she said.
UN experts said last year that Rwanda had between 3,000 and 4,000 troops operating alongside the M23 in eastern DR Congo.
Human Rights Watch has warned of escalating risks to civilians as DR Congo’s army battle the M23 rebels. The humanitarian group has accused both sides of committing grave abuses against civilians.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the current conflict risks escalating into a broader regional war.
Uganda’s army has said it will strengthen its defences along the border with DR Congo in response to the increased fighting.
