The Rwanda-backed M23 rebel group announced late Monday its withdrawal from scheduled peace talks with the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) government, set to begin Tuesday in Luanda, Angola. M23 spokesman Lawrence Kanyuka cited new European Union sanctions imposed Monday on several group members as rendering the dialogue “impracticable,” alongside alleged ongoing Congolese military offensives in the conflict zone. “Consequently, our organisation can no longer continue to participate in the discussions,” Kanyuka stated on X.

The decision upends a rare diplomatic opening after the DRC, reversing months of refusal, confirmed its participation earlier Monday. Presidential spokesperson Tina Salama told AP a Congolese delegation was already in Luanda, despite President Felix Tshisekedi’s prior stance—“A dialogue with a terrorist group like the M23 is a red line that we will never cross,” he declared on January 18. M23 had also dispatched representatives, Kanyuka noted on X, before the sanctions shifted their stance.

The talks, mediated by Angola, aimed to address a conflict that intensified in January when M23 seized Goma, followed by Bukavu in February, displacing over 7 million in eastern Congo’s mineral-rich region. Angola’s mediation follows a December breakdown when Rwanda conditioned peace on direct DRC-M23 talks, a demand Kinshasa rejected. M23, backed by roughly 4,000 Rwandan troops per UN estimates, has at times threatened to march on Kinshasa, 1,575 kilometers west.

International pressure mounts as the EU sanctioned five Rwandans, including a special forces commander, Monday, prompting Rwanda to sever ties with Belgium—whose aid was cut last month—after President Paul Kagame accused Brussels of “destroying” his nation. The U.S., exploring a mining partnership with Congo, saw Tshisekedi meet envoy Rep. Ronny Jackson Sunday, who stressed, “We want American companies to invest, and for that, we need peace.”

The pullout, reported a short while ago, dims hopes for de-escalation in a crisis marked by atrocities—rape and killings under UN scrutiny—leaving Angola’s mediation and Congo’s next move in limbo as regional tensions simmer.