US State Department withdraws support for restoration of Ukraine's energy system

USAID is the United States Agency for International Development. Photo: Getty Images

This week, even before the dispute between Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Donald Trump, the US State Department decided to terminate the USAID programme aimed at restoring Ukraine's energy sector.

According to NBC News, in recent years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested under this initiative to support the resilience of the country's energy system after Russian attacks.

«This significantly undermines this administration's ability to negotiate a ceasefire, and it will send a message to Russia that we don't care about Ukraine and our past investments», one USAID official involved in the Ukraine mission told NBC News.

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The official also noted that USAID plays a central role in helping Ukraine be resilient, including strengthening the energy system. In addition to ending the «Energy Security of Ukraine project», USAID is also drastically reducing its presence in Ukraine.

Prior to the Trump administration's recent moves, 64 US government employees and contractors worked in Ukraine on behalf of the agency. After the Trump administration placed the rest of the staff on administrative leave and ordered employees not deemed «critical» to return to the US, only eight of them will remain on the ground in the war-torn country.

Both officials warned that a USAID withdrawal from Ukraine would leave its power grid vulnerable in the dead of winter, when it would be exposed to further attacks from Russian missiles.

Earlier, US President Donald Trump's National Security Advisor Mike Volz said that cutting funding for the US Agency for International Development (USAID) does not mean that the US will cede influence to China or Russia on the world stage.

As a reminder, on 28 January, the US State Department revised its decision to suspend funding for USAID programmes, introducing a number of exceptions. First of all, they apply to humanitarian programmes that provide «essential medicines, medical services, food, shelter and living expenses, as well as supplies and reasonable administrative costs necessary to provide such assistance».

Later, US billionaire Elon Musk, who was appointed by President Donald Trump to head the Department of Government Effectiveness (DOGE), accused the US Agency for International Development (USAID) of funding research «on biological weapons, including COVID-19».

The White House also published a list of projects for which USAID allocated funds, and called the expenditures «senseless».