The US agency for international development will close its office in Russia following a Russian decision to end the aid agency’s work there, the US state department said on Tuesday.
Analysts said they believed the Russian decision partly reflected Moscow’s hostility toward US-funded groups that seek to promote democracy and the rule of law in Russia.
“The United States recently received the Russian government’s decision to end USAid activities in the Russian Federation,” state department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a written statement. She later told reporters that Russia had informed the United States of its decision last Wednesday.
“While USAid’s physical presence in Russia will come to an end, we remain committed to supporting democracy, human rights, and the development of a more robust civil society in Russia and look forward to continuing our co-operation with Russian non-governmental organisations,” Nuland added.
Steven Pifer, a former US ambassador to Ukraine who is now at the Brookings Institution think tank, said he believed the decision reflected some reluctance by the Russian government to see foreign support for pro-democracy efforts in the country.
“They see Aid’s efforts in Russia as being a prime funder of the NGOs that are concerned about their elections and concerned about the regression of democracy in Russia,” Pifer said.
He said the Russian government, basking in oil revenues, no longer believed it should be a recipient of foreign aid and may also be “trying to make it more difficult” for the outside world to support pro-democracy NGOs, or non-governmental organisations, in Russia.