Democratic Republic of Congo President Félix Tshisekedi is set to skip the virtual emergency summit of East African Community (EAC) leaders to address the crisis in the DRC.

By skipping the summit, Tshisekedi is set to snub President William Ruto, who was the orchestrator of the summit in his capacity as EAC chair. Ruto was set to facilitate high-level talks between Tshisekedi and his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame to bring an end to the ravaging war in the DRC.

The new development was communicated by presidential spokesperson Tina Salama, attributing Tshisekedi’s absence from the summit to scheduling reasons.

The latest development has seemingly thrown a spanner in the works after the two presidents were reportedly set to attend the virtual meeting.

A collage of Presidents William Ruto, Paul Kagame (Rwanda), and Felix Tshisekedi (DRC), Tuesday, January 28.

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PCS, Presidency Rwanda, Tshisekedi

It also comes amid tense relations between Kinshasa and Nairobi, with Congolese authorities perceiving Ruto as a biased mediator.

During the call for the summit, Ruto urged direct dialogue between the Congolese government and the M23 rebels, a move that has frequently been resisted by the Congolese authorities.

The conflict has often masked the deep underlying issues between the various leaders, with Tshisekedi on record accusing Ruto of siding with Rwanda.

Last year, President Tshisekedi criticised Ruto for taking control of the Nairobi Peace Process, which was initially led by former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta. In a session at the Brookings Institution, Tshisekedi labelled the East African Community-led peace initiative as "poorly managed" and declared it "dead."

He maintained that Kenyatta should continue as the official facilitator but candidly added, "I must confess, President Ruto is supporting Rwanda, and I won't say anything more about that."

On December 15 last year, President Tshisekedi and President Kagame were scheduled to meet to discuss the crisis in eastern DRC. However, the meeting was cancelled due to disagreements over preconditions.

The war between M23 rebels and Congolese forces escalated in Goma, the largest city in the eastern part of DRC.

This happened as rebels marched into the city, which has a population of about two million, resulting in pockets of chaos and gunfire.

The devastating conflict has since spilled over to the Rwandan border, affecting civilian activities, including schooling and businesses, in Rubavu, which borders the DRC.

In Kinshasa, DRC’s capital, protestors stormed the US, Kenyan, South African and Ugandan embassies resulting in the destruction of property drawing widespread condemnation from the affected countries.

Protests in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

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Al Jazeera