“It is currently unknown how exactly this Trump decree may affect non-military aid to Ukraine”, — write: www.radiosvoboda.org
“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 US Department of Defense said.
It is indicated that this means that the contracts for the manufacture of weapons for Ukraine under the USAI program, executed by the Biden administration, remain in force. Also, Trump’s order does not affect the remaining and previously planned supply of weapons from US warehouses under the PDA program, which was announced by Joe Biden.
It is currently unknown how exactly this Trump decree may affect non-military aid to Ukraine. In response to RFE/RL’s request US Embassy in Ukraine does not provide additional explanations.
As of today, the delivery of military aid from the United States to Ukraine continues, the spokesman of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Heorhiy Tyhiy, said at a briefing on January 23. He emphasized that Ukraine conveys to the American side that this support “contributes to stability in Europe and is of key importance for achieving a just peace.”
On January 20, US President Donald Trump signed a decree on a temporary pause in the provision of US foreign aid to other countries for 90 days to evaluate the effectiveness and consistency of the relevant programs with US foreign policy.
According to the document, within 90 days, based on the evaluations, a decision will be made on the continuation, modification or termination of each foreign aid program. Western agencies, including Reuters and the Associated Press, note that it is not yet known how broad the decree is and which programs, countries, non-governmental and international organizations it will affect, given that funding for many programs has already been approved by Congress and must be spent. if not already spent.
Trump has long opposed foreign aid, despite the fact that such aid typically accounts for about 1 percent of the federal budget, except in extraordinary circumstances, such as the billions in weapons given to Ukraine. Trump has criticized the amount of funding allocated to aid Ukraine amid a large-scale Russian invasion.