President Emmanuel Macron on Tuesday hailed France's "unprecedented" rapprochement with Rwanda as he unveiled a monument to victims of the east African country's 1994 genocide in the presence of Rwandan leader Paul Kagame. The monument on the banks of the Seine river in the heart of Paris is part of France's efforts to acknowledge its role in one of the 20th century's worst atrocities. "An unprecedented reconciliation has emerged between Rwanda and France," said Macron, adding that the memorial was "the culmination of a long and patient quest for truth". "This monument, while it is an achievement, is not an end. It is a milestone on a path we have opened," he added. In a historic speech in Kigali in 2021, Macron acknowledged France's failure to heed warnings of impending massacres in Rwanda. Macron has said Paris and its Western and African allies did not have the will to halt the genocide, in which an estimated 800,000 people were slaughtered, mostly ethnic Tutsis. But he has stopped short of issuing a formal apology. Speaking at the ceremony, Kagame hailed France's efforts to assume its share of responsibility, and praised Macron for his "courage and humanity". "France was not alone in falling short, far from it," said Kagame, who had long accused France of "complicity". "Many other countries did so as well, but none has gone as far as France in setting the record straight and accepting its part in the tragedy. "Confronting historical responsibilities requires real courage because it generates a fierce opposition by those with a case to answer," he said. The monument, dubbed "L'Archive" (The Archive), is designed by Grada Kilomba, a Berlin-based Portuguese artist. It consists of two black brass steles and bears an engraved tribute to the hundreds of thousands of men, women and children massacred between April and July 1994. "Here, like an archive, rest the voices and words, the memories and experiences, the feelings and hopes of the victims and the survivors," it reads.