NBC News reports that the US State Department has reportedly cut USAID’s energy aid program to Ukraine and reduced its diplomatic presence to a bare minimum.
According to NBC News sources, the US State Department has ended a USAID initiative focused on rebuilding Ukraine’s energy grid, which has been heavily damaged by Russian attacks.
USAID, the primary US agency for funding international political projects, faced scrutiny from President Donald Trump early in his term, who alleged corruption and inefficiency. He froze the agency’s funding for 90 days and shifted oversight of its programs to the State Department.
NBC News reports that the State Department’s crackdown included halting a USAID program that had invested hundreds of millions of dollars in Ukraine’s power grid. They also significantly scaled back the agency’s presence in the country.
The network said that before the cuts, 64 American government employees and contractors were on the ground supporting USAID’s mission. Now, only eight are expected to remain, as the Trump administration has placed the remaining personnel on administrative leave and ordered all but “critical” staff to return to the US, according to NBC.
A USAID official involved in the Ukraine mission told the outlet that ”It significantly undercuts this administration’s abilities to negotiate on the ceasefire, and it’d signal to Russia that we don’t care about Ukraine or our past investments,” adding that the decision would greatly harm Ukraine’s economic stability.
In 2024 alone, USAID had allocated $825 million to support Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
This action comes as Russia continues its drone and missile strikes targeting Ukraine’s defense-related energy infrastructure to weaken the country’s military capabilities, leading to frequent blackouts. Moscow maintains that it never targets civilians.
The reported USAID withdrawal coincides with a meeting between Trump and Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky at the White House. During the meeting, the US president reportedly accused Zelensky of being unappreciative of the considerable aid provided to Kiev and unwilling to negotiate an end to the conflict with Russia. As a result of the tense exchange, an agreement granting the US rights to Ukraine’s natural resources in exchange for past aid was not finalized.
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