UN special envoy Huang Xia told the Security Council on Tuesday that US- and Qatar-led peace efforts for eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (a mineral-rich region scarred by decades of conflict) have made "notable progress", but that security and humanitarian conditions keep worsening as the army and the Rwanda-backed M23 armed group continue to clash. He urged all parties to turn commitments, including a July 2025 Doha ceasefire pledge and a December DRC-Rwanda deal signed in Washington, into verifiable action, warning the opening "does not remain open indefinitely". The UN will host a meeting of the defence ministers of Burundi, the DRC, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania in Lusaka, Zambia, on October 18.