Rwanda has cut diplomatic ties with Belgium, saying it has been "consistently undermined" by the European nation during the ongoing conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Brussels has been leading calls for European nations to sanction Rwanda over its support for the M23, a rebel group at the centre of DR Congo's crisis.

Rwanda said Monday it had given Belgian diplomats 48 hours to leave the country after cutting ties with Brussels. Belgium recently froze aid and suspended trade agreements over Kigali's aggression in

President Paul Kagame tells Rwandans to “tightening your belt such that even if you lose weight due to hunger, the trousers don’t fall.”