U.S. President Donald Trump's foreign aid pause may hinder Ukraine's ability to rebuild energy facilities damaged by Russian attacks, Politico reported on Jan. 21, citing Ukrainian officials.
Trump issued an executive order imposing a 90-day freeze on all U.S. foreign development assistance on Jan. 20, his first day in office.
The order appears to target programs under the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), which provides humanitarian assistance to Ukraine. The aid freeze could affect Ukraine's ability to rebuild damaged energy infrastructure, conduct demining operations, and fund civil society programs, according to Maksym Samoiliuk, an economist at the Kyiv-based Center for Economic Strategy.
"The question is how exactly this decree will be implemented and whether the previous Biden administration was preparing for such a development and did not transfer funds in advance, for example," Samoliuk told Politico.
U.S. Senator Chris Coons, a Democrat, also slammed Trump for issuing the order in winter amid Ukraine's ongoing energy crisis.
"Does that mean that we will abandon Ukraine in the middle of winter? Because USAID has been providing critical funding for the rebuilding of their electric grid every time Russia attacks it," Coons said.
Russia continues to target Ukrainian energy infrastructure, ramping up attacks in the winter months. In December 2024, Russia carried out one of its largest assaults on Ukraine's electric grid, launching 90 missiles and 200 drones against the country's thermal power plants.
While a pause on USAID funding could put some projects in Ukraine at risk, other types of aid have already been secured under former U.S. President Joe Biden, officials said.
Trump's freeze does not apply to weapons or the $20 million in loans backed by frozen Russian asset revenues that the U.S. allocated for Ukraine last fall.
"In terms of budget funding, we're secured," Roksolana Pidlasa, chair of the Verkhovna Rada's budget committee, told Politico.
"Biden's administration transferred all the funds under the ERA initiative to the World Bank."
Chris York
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