Angola is advancing efforts to mediate the crisis in eastern DR Congo by facilitating direct negotiations between Kinshasa and the M23 rebel group. Following a meeting in Luanda, Angolan President João Lourenço announced plans to establish talks between the two sides to secure lasting peace.

The Democratic Republic of Congo government and the M23 rebel group are to hold direct peace talks on 18 March, Angola said Wednesday. A statement from Angolan President João Lourenço’s office said they would begin “peace negotiations” in the Angolan capital,

Angola has acted as a mediator in the conflict in eastern Congo, which escalated in late January when the Rwanda-backed rebels advanced and took control of the strategic eastern Congo city of Goma. In February, M23 seized Bukavu, eastern Congo’s second biggest city.