According to media reports, Marco Rubio was to send a memorandum to employees of the State Department and the aid agency USAID, ordering suspending work on almost all foreign aid programs for 90 days.
This time is to be used to prepare a special report on the compliance of the programs with the goals of US foreign policy. It is worth emphasizing that the order is much broader than what was signed by Donald Trump on the first day of his presidency, the regulation o suspension of US development aid and applies to all programs.
USA. Marco Rubio suspends aid to Ukraine
Citing its sources in the Democratic camp in the US Congress, PAP reports that Rubio's move means, among other things, terrible news for Ukrainywhich is about to lose support both militaryWhat humanitarian and access to training for its soldiers.
– Almost all of this is under the supervision of the State Department, except for the financial aid that goes through the World Bank. But if, let's assume, Ukrainian energy infrastructure were damaged tomorrow by Russian shelling, the US would not be able to help to prevent Ukrainians from freezing to death, the source told PAP.
This information is also confirmed by, among others: PBS television and the Politico website. These also raise the alarm that those trying to repel Chinese influence will remain without help Taiwan.
Democrats concerned about the move of the US Secretary of State. “Our credibility is at risk”
The text of the memorandum was published by journalist Ken Klippenstein, thanks to which we know that the document states that the only exception to the freezing order will be food programs responding to urgent needs and Foreign Military Financing military support programs (FMF) for Israel i Egypt.
Top Democrats on the House Foreign Affairs and Budget Committees, Gregory Meeks and Lois Frankel, expressed great outrage.
“For years, Republicans in Congress have criticized what they see as a lack of credibility United States towards countries such as China, Russia i Iran. Now our credibility is at risk and it appears that we will withdraw from America's commitments to our partners around the world,” the congressmen said in a statement.
As they added, blocking foreign aid will result in loss of trust in the US: from the people who rely on this aid to survive, whether in Gaza, Sudan, Haitiin Ukraine, to those who are in danger by providing this aid.”
As AFP points out, Rubio's directive also means the suspension of at least several months of US funding for PEPFAR – an initiative against HIV/AIDS that purchases antiretroviral drugs to treat this disease in developing countries, mainly in Africa.
The PEPFAR program, launched during the presidency of George W. Bush in 2003, is credited with saving the lives of approximately 26 million people around the world.
The United States has been around for a long time the world's largest donor in dollar terms, although many European countries, especially Scandinavia, contribute much more as a percentage of their economies.
According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, which advises industrialized countries, the United States has provided over $64 billion in foreign development assistance in 2023.the last year for which data was available.