USAID cuts funding for Ukraine's energy system recovery

Despite speculation linking the move to the recent meeting between Donald Trump and Volodymyr Zelensky, the decision to cut funding was made long before that. The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is cutting programmes worldwide, which affects Ukraine as well.

Key changes

Globally: 90% of grants totalling $54 billion have already been cancelled.
Ukraine: of 64 USAID staff in the country, only 8 will remain.
Europe and Eurasia: staff numbers have been reduced from 115 to 29.
Worldwide: of 10,000 agency employees, only 294 remain.

Reasons – savings, not politics

These measures are part of a global strategy to optimise the budget. The spending cuts affect not only Ukraine but many other countries, so linking them to political decisions or Trump's influence is incorrect.