(Reuters) - Rwanda's President Paul Kagame said the country cannot stay forever in Mozambique's Cabo Delgado province, where allied Rwandan and Mozambican troops have been recapturing areas from Islamist militants since July.

       "As much as we cannot be here forever, I think the problem we are dealing with with our friends in Mozambique cannot stay here forever too," Kagame said at a joint media conference with Mozambique's President Filipe Nyusi on Saturday.

       "Every time, every step, we are assessing what needs to be done... The need to stay and for how long, that comes out naturally as progress is made."

       (Reporting by Helen Reid; editing by Jason Neely)