President William Ruto held a telephone conversation with United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Monday night to discuss matters concerning ties between the two nations.
According to Ruto, they touched base on a myriad of issues among them trade and investment partnerships, the Kenyan-led Haiti mission and bolstering peace and security.
“We discussed the need to conclude the Strategic Trade and Investment Partnership (STIP) agreement that seeks to increase investment, promote sustainable and inclusive economic growth by unlocking the existing economic opportunities,” the president said on X.
“On regional peace and security, Secretary Rubio praised Kenya’s efforts to promote regional stability. We discussed the situation in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo and the support needed from the United States of America.”
On the Haiti mission, Ruto intimated that they agreed to have a joint strategy to ensure the mission serves its purpose of restoring calm in the war-torn Caribbean nation.
Ruto also kept Secretary Rubio abreast with the security situation in Sudan, South Sudan and Somalia where long-running chaos have been witnessed.
“I am glad that the US has committed to continue to deploy its capabilities to support Kenya’s peace mission in the region,” Ruto added.
This comes a day after Ruto, as the Chair of the East African Community (EAC), called for an immediate ceasefire in the Eastern DRC citing an escalating humanitarian crisis.
Ruto noted that the ongoing military actions have worsened the crisis, including the closure of airspace in Goma which has impeded access to facilitate humanitarian access to affected populations.
He therefore convened an emergency EAC Summit set to be held on Wednesday due to the dire situation to deliberate on a way forward.
The Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have quickly gained ground this month in DRC conflict-riven eastern borderlands and launched an assault on Goma, the capital of North Kivu province, earlier this week.
Meanwhile, the US, France and Britain on Sunday condemned what they said was Rwanda’s backing of the rebel advance. Kigali has long denied supporting M23.
Ruto has also met AU leaders and his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron over the escalating crisis in the DRC.
