Burundian President Evariste Ndayishimiye has rejected an olive branch from his Rwandan counterpart Paul Kagame, describing his neighbour's offer to settle their differences and reset diplomatic ties as "hypocritical".
Ndayishimiye, who was elected in May, did not mention Kagame by name in a speech delivered near the Rwandan border on Thursday, and published on the president's Twitter account on Friday.
But it followed Kagame's call last month for a "turnaround" in the long-strained relationship between Burundi and Rwanda, and for the two leaders to chart a less hostile course under Ndayishimiye.
"We do not want to have such relations with a country that uses malice, a hypocritical country, which claims to want to restore good relations with Burundi, while placing a thorn under our feet," Ndayishimiye said in Busoni, near Burundi's northern border with Rwanda.
He said Burundian refugees in Rwanda were "being held hostage", and accused the government there of harbouring those behind a failed 2015 coup that plunged Burundi into violent chaos.
"If they really want to revive Burundi, let them hand these criminals over to us, so that we can judge them. Burundians will never be satisfied until those responsible for the 2015 crisis are punished," said Ndayishimiye.
