U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order suspending foreign aid programs for 90 days does not apply to military assistance for Ukraine, the Pentagon confirmed to the Ukrainian Service of Voice of America on Jan. 23.
“Security assistance to Ukraine is not subject to the restrictions of the recent foreign assistance order, as it only applies to development programs, not military support,” the U.S. Department of Defense stated.
Contracts under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) and weapon deliveries from U.S. warehouses under the Presidential Depletion Authority (PDA) will remain unaffected.
These programs, among others, were initiated during President Biden’s administration.
While Ukrainian military assistance is exempt from the 90-day suspension, the status of development and humanitarian programs is uncertain and still under review.
The 90-day suspension was published by the White House on Jan. 20, as one of the numerous executive orders Trump has passed since becoming president.
In the document, Trump wrote that "the United States foreign aid industry and bureaucracy are not aligned with American interests and in many cases antithetical to American values," without mentioning specific examples.
In addition to development aid, the U.S. has provided Kyiv with $66 billion in military assistance since the outbreak of Russia’s full-scale war in 2022.
Abbey Fenbert
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