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M23 rebels say they will withdraw from the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo town of Uvira at the request of ​the US administration, which had criticised seizure of the town last week as a threat to mediation efforts.

The rebels entered Uvira, ⁠on the border with Burundi, less than a week after the presidents of DR Congo and Rwanda met with US President Donald Trump in Washington DC and affirmed their commitment to a peace deal known as the Washington Accords.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday that Rwanda's actions in eastern DR Congo violated the Washington Accords and vowed to "take action to ensure promises made to ‌the president are kept".

Rwanda ​denies supporting M23 and has blamed DR Congolese and Burundian forces for the renewed fighting.

A report by ‍a United Nations group of experts in July said Rwanda exercised command and control over the rebels.

Corneille Nangaa, leader of the Congo River Alliance of insurgents that includes M23, said in a post overnight on X that the rebels would withdraw.

The move was a "unilateral trust-building measure in order to give the Doha peace process the maximum chance to succeed," he said.

M23 is not party ​to the US-mediated negotiations but has been participating in separate, parallel ‌talks with the DR Congolese government hosted by Qatar.

A rebel source said both M23 and DR Congolese forces would withdraw 5km from Uvira to establish a ​buffer zone, something M23 had proposed at a press conference last week.