At an emergency U.N. Security Council meeting Wednesday, a representative of France urged the council to denounce reported Rwandan support for the M23 rebel advance in North Kivu and called for an immediate cease-fire to protect civilians and the city of Goma.

France said the offensive by the M23 was “causing major risks for civilians and must be stopped immediately,” and repeated a call for the group to withdraw from territory it has captured. The representative also said France “strongly condemn[ed] the ongoing offensive led by the M23 with the active support of Rwanda” and urged a prompt resumption of political talks under the Rwanda and Nairobi processes.

The French representative highlighted that the mandate of the United Nations Organization Stabilization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUSCO) had been renewed unanimously last month and described MONUSCO as “a crucial actor on the ground to protect civilians.” The representative also expressed condolences to the families of peacekeepers killed in recent fighting.

Another council participant, identified in the transcript as "Ambassador," cited the U.N. Group of Experts, saying the group “has long established that Rwanda has forces supporting M23 in eastern Congo” and questioned whether the council should take a firmer stance toward Kigali. The French representative said the delegation was proposing “a press statement to the Security Council calling a cat a cat,” and emphasized the need for balance while pressing for a restart of the peace process.

Speakers also named the FDLR as a factor that "must be dismantled" and called for hate speech and support to armed groups by any party to stop. The meeting transcript records discussion of naming responsible parties in a press statement but does not record any formal Security Council vote or adoption of a statement during the session.

The discussion focused on immediate humanitarian and security risks in North Kivu and on diplomatic steps: France pushed for an explicit denunciation and a return to negotiated processes; another speaker pointed to repeated findings by the Group of Experts on cross-border support. No formal action or resolution is recorded in the transcript of this session.

Council members did not record a final, formal decision in the provided transcript; the French representative concluded by reiterating the need for the offensive to stop and for the resumption of the political processes in the region.