The New York Times reported that Russia has ordered the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to cut off funding for a wide range pro-democracy, public health and other civil society programs that have been operating in Russia for two decades.
The move stands to cut off aid that currently totals about $50 million a year, a relatively small sum but a potentially devastating blow for groups that came to rely on foreign money as domestic controls over politics tightened.
American officials, who were informed of the decision earlier this month, quickly pledged to maneuver around the Kremlin. The Obama administration last October proposed the creation of a new $50 million fund— essentially an endowment for a private foundation established under Russian law — for Russian civil society groups, and one senior administration official said work on that project would speed up.
Click here to read the full story on the New York Times’ website.