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State Department Briefing, June 20, 2025: Congo-Rwanda Peace Text Initialed, Signing Set for June 27
June 20, 2025 · U.S. Department of State · 2:00:23
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What happened
The June 20, 2025 department briefing — an extended session whose presiding spokesperson is not among the officials tracked by name on this site, so this page is tagged with no tracked official — opened with guidance for American travelers: sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program, monitor travel.state.gov, and use the new crisis intake form linked from the banner on that site for departure information for U.S. citizens in Israel and the West Bank and for citizens in Iran to register their information, as the briefing stated it. The spokesperson said the department does not anticipate offering direct U.S. government-assisted departure from Iran, that Americans seeking to leave should use existing means, and that the department had provided information and support to over 25,000 people seeking guidance on the situation in Israel, the West Bank and Iran, according to the briefing.
The spokesperson reiterated President Trump’s statement, delivered by Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt the day before, that based on the substantial chance of negotiations that may or may not take place in the near future, he would make his decision on whether or not to go within the next two weeks, as quoted in the briefing.
The spokesperson then announced that after three days of talks, technical teams from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of Rwanda initialed the text of a peace agreement on the Wednesday before the briefing, and that on Friday, June 27, Secretary of State Marco Rubio would witness the ministerial signing of that peace agreement at the Department of State, led by the foreign ministers of Rwanda and the DRC, as stated in the briefing. The spokesperson called it a milestone achievement and a significant step toward peace in the region, and said that with implementation of the agreement, the economic investment and development all parties want will finally be possible, according to the briefing. The briefing also welcomed home Edan Alexander, held hostage by Hamas, to New Jersey, as stated in the briefing.
Scoreboard watch
The briefing announced a ministerial signing of the Congo-Rwanda peace agreement at the State Department on Friday, June 27, 2025, to be witnessed by Secretary Rubio — a dated event stated on the record in this briefing.
Why it matters
The briefing’s central announcement is a dated diplomatic milestone — a Congo-Rwanda peace text initialed after three days of talks, with a ministerial signing set at the department for June 27, as the spokesperson stated it — delivered alongside live crisis guidance for Americans in Israel, the West Bank and Iran.
Sources: U.S. Department of State, “Department of State Press Briefing - June 20, 2025 - 2:00 PM”, 2025-06-20 (official upload, embedded above; published 2025-06-20). Transcript via Supadata (private research store, paraphrased and attributed, not republished). All figures and characterizations as stated by the speakers.