As vast swaths of Congolese territory are seized by a Rwandan-backed armed group, Congo’s president looks to make a minerals deal with the United States.

On Feb. 13, the European Parliament voted overwhelmingly to suspend a cooperation agreement with Rwanda on a trio of minerals critical to the clean energy transition, citing their links to the ongoing violence in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The Rwandan shore of Lake Kivu offers leisure and relaxation. Across the border in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the same lake was recently the site of devastation and misery after a rebel offensive.

The UN human rights chief accused Rwanda-backed rebels who seized a second major city in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) of killing children and attacking hospitals and warehouses storing humanitarian aid.

Until now, the international response to the rapidly escalating crisis in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group has committed a litany of grave abuses, has been all talk and no action.