President Robert Mugabe publicly criticised Democratic Republic of Congo President Laurent Kabila on Tuesday and is understood to have told him he will withdraw most of Zimbabwe's troops by the end of the year.
Kabila's intransigence has wrecked yet another regional summit aimed at getting the deadlocked DRC peace process back on track.
The summit in Lusaka ended early on Tuesday without conclusion after Kabila rejected appeals to accept former Botswana president Ketumile Masire as facilitator, and to allow United Nations peacekeepers to be deployed in government-held war zones.
"President Kabila has refused to listen or discuss the matter. He says he does not want Sir Ketumile Masire - period," Mugabe said after the talks.
"It is not good that President Kabila does not want to listen. It is important that he sees the views of other leaders - if the problem is to be solved."
Senior Zimbabwean government sources said Zimbabwe Finance Minister Simba Makoni had told Mugabe two weeks ago that he could not rescue the plummeting economy while the 13 000 Zimbabwean troops in the DRC were draining Z$1,3-billion a month from the treasury.
Most analysts believe Kabila cannot survive without these troops.
Meanwhile, the United States has issued a stern warning to Kabila to support United Nations-backed efforts to end the two-year war.
Nancy Soderberg, a senior member of the United States mission to the United Nations, said on Tuesday the talks had produced "broad consensus on a number of key issues" among all those taking part except Kabila.
She described the 1999 ceasefire agreement as "the most viable means for bringing the conflict to an end" and said Kabila's government "must provide the requisite security guarantees, access and co-operation that will enable the United Nations to deploy its peacekeepers". - Independent Foreign Service, Sapa-AFP