President Donald Trump gathered the leaders of Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to sign a peace accord and economic agreements with the U.S., though it’s unclear whether the efforts will resolve a 30-year conflict that continues to fester.

“They’ve spent a lot of time killing each other and now they’re going to spend a lot of time hugging, holding hands and taking advantage of the United States of America economically like every other country does,” Trump said Thursday at a signing ceremony in Washington.

The peace agreement, known as the Washington Accords, was sealed at what was once known as the U.S. Institute of Peace, which the State Department renamed for Trump a day earlier.

The U.S. and Congo also signed a partnership to create a strategic reserve of critical mineral assets, gold assets and unexplored geological sites as part of a suite of deals linked to the peace agreement.

Congo agreed to prioritize U.S. companies when it seeks bids to develop the assets, according to the agreement published on the State Department website. The two countries will also explore the creation of a strategic minerals reserve to ensure a predictable supply of critical minerals — including cobalt — for the U.S., according to the agreement.

The peace initiative has been months in the making, after U.S. political intervention earlier this year stalled a Rwanda-backed rebel advance that threatened to overthrow the government of Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi.

Since then, little has changed on the ground. The rebels, known as the M23, continue to occupy a large swath of mineral-rich eastern Congo and to capture new towns there.

Asked when the countries could expect to see an end to fighting and real lasting peace, Trump said “I think you’re going to see very immediate results.”

Trump has repeatedly claimed ending the Rwanda-Congo conflict as one of several acts that should earn him the Nobel Peace Prize. Critics have said some of those deals have not actually resulted in meaningful changes, or that they resolved conflicts that weren’t actually wars to begin with.

The Trump administration is betting that the public signing of the accord and related economic and mining pacts will lure investors to the region and incentivize the two sides to keep the peace. Rwanda and Congo are also set to sign an economic integration agreement as part of the U.S.-backed peace deal.

Eastern Congo is rich in gold, tin, tungsten and tantalum, which are in most portable electronics. Both the M23 and Rwanda stand accused by the U.S., European Union and United Nations of profiting from their illicit trade.

Congo is also the world’s biggest cobalt producer and the second-largest source of copper. Tshisekedi’s government is expected to sign a separate bilateral pact with the U.S. to partner on future energy, mining and infrastructure projects.

“I do believe this day is the beginning of a new path — a demanding path, yes indeed, quite difficult. But this is a path where peace will not just be a wish and aspiration but a turning point,” Tshisekedi said. “We do hope that with the same seriousness that the Republic of Rwanda will also respect fully the letter and the spirit of the commitments made here in Washington.”

The signing was also witnessed by leaders from Angola, Kenya and Burundi as well as Gianni Infantino, the president of FIFA, the global soccer governing body.

On Wednesday, the peace deal already seemed under threat after Congo complained that the M23 was continuing to advance. Government spokesman Patrick Muyaya said Rwanda “doesn’t want peace” — just access to Congo’s natural resources.

The U.S., EU and UN experts have all accused Rwanda of supporting the M23 by providing training, weapons and its own soldiers to fight alongside the rebels.

Rwandan President Paul Kagame has repeatedly denied such allegations, and accuses Congo of collaborating with a rebel group known as the FDLR — short for Forces Démocratiques de Libération du Rwanda — that has links to the perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide.

“If this agreement falters and things do not work out as they are supposed to, the responsibility will not lie with President Trump but with ourselves,” Kagame said at the signing event, alongside Trump and Tshisekedi. “There will be ups and downs on the road ahead. There is no doubt about it.”

These long-standing grievances remain far from resolved by Thursday’s peace deal, according to Jason Stearns, founder of the Congo Research Group at New York University.

“The U.S. initiatives have been successful, at least putting a damper on the conflict for now and getting everybody to the table,” Stearns said. “What the peace deal has not been able to do is to solve the underlying issues or to bring an end to the conflict.”

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With assistance from Catherine Lucey and Jordan Fabian.

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