Relations between the United States and Ukraine continue to weaken.
This week, the U.S. State Department eliminated a U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) initiative providing support for Ukraine’s energy grid during Russia’s invasion of the European nation.
“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,” a representative for USAID told NBC News.
“Russia is fighting a two-pronged war in Ukraine: A military one but also an economic one. They’re trying to crush the economy, but USAID has played a central role in helping it be resilient, [including] shoring up the energy grid…We’ve provided vast amount of support to the Ukrainian government to avoid a macro economic crisis.”
Not only is the State Department limiting USAID’s support for Ukraine’s energy grid, but the Trump administration is also reducing American presence in the European nation. Previously, more than five dozen U.S. officials were reportedly working in Ukraine for USAID. Moving forward, the Trump administration will limit the number of U.S. nationals working for the agency in Ukraine to eight. In addition, the State Department has reportedly eliminated a program geared toward “financial sector reform activity.”
With the reduction of USAID’s presence in Ukraine, the nation’s energy grid will likely be open to additional attacks from Russian forces. Ukraine has already enacted scheduled power outages in several regions due to the constant attacks on its power grid.
