U.S. Assistance to Ukraine -— US Embassy in Ukraine Overview
U.S. assistance to Ukraine since 2014 totals over $3.7 billion, plus three $1 billion sovereign loan guarantees.
For FY 2020, Congress has appropriated $698 million: $448 million for State/USAI programs and $250 million for USAI, including $50 million for lethal assistance.
The $448 million appropriation for State/USAI programs includes approximately $285 million in the development accounts and approximately $163 million in the security accounts.
To combat COVID, thus far the United States has provided over $26 million in assistance in new and redirected funding.
This funding will prepare laboratory systems, activate case-finding and event-based surveillance, support technical experts for response and preparedness, bolster risk communication, and support water, sanitation and hygiene interventions for the most vulnerable populations in eastern Ukraine.
Assistance will also counter disinformation, bolster media’s health reporting capacity, expand the government’s ability to continue operating under pandemic-related restrictions, and support Ukraine’s economic recovery.
U.S. assistance priorities:
Security: U.S. programs provide technical assistance, training, and equipment to the Ukrainian Armed Forces and security services to defend Ukraine’s territorial integrity and enhance border and internal security.
Countering Russian Aggression: U.S. assistance works to demonstrate the positive effects of national-level reforms for Ukraine, combat the spread of disinformation, and improve Ukraine’s commercial and energy linkages with Western economies.
Anti-Corruption and Rule of Law: Programs support law enforcement and justice sector reform and governance reforms to increase accountability and effectiveness of governance.
Energy Security: Programs improve Ukraine’s energy security by diversifying supply, establishing competitive markets, accelerating legal regulatory reforms to combat corruption, and ensuring compliance with EU standards and commitments.
Economic Growth: Programs support pro-growth reforms such as an improved land market, privatization, increased competition, and transparent corporate governance. U.S. assistance also supports the growth of small- and medium-sized enterprises.
Cybersecurity: Programs help Ukraine protect itself against Russian cyber-enabled attempts to destabilize it. This includes efforts to support Ukraine’s cyber strategy and legal framework, strengthen incident response capabilities, and harden critical infrastructure.
Humanitarian Assistance: Since the conflict began in 2014, the United States has provided nearly $246 million in humanitarian assistance to date for conflict-affected populations.
Assistance includes emergency shelter, provision and distribution of relief commodities, protection of children and the elderly, psychosocial support, water infrastructure repair, and livelihoods and business development support for internally displaced persons.
Election Support:Programs strengthen Ukraine’s election system; increase citizen participation; increase representativeness and responsiveness of political parties; support effective civic oversight; and promote issue-focused media coverage.
The United States is the largest contributor to OSCE’s Special Monitoring Mission, a comprehensive source of information on military and humanitarian developments in areas of eastern Ukraine controlled by Russia.
The United States supports the United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, an important source of information and advocacy for human rights in Crimea and eastern Ukraine.
Please visit each section/agency’s page for further information.
Politico.com
By KENNETH P. VOGEL and DAVID STERN
01/11/2017
<>Ukrainian efforts to sabotage Trump backfire; foreign aid billions threatened
<>Kiev scrambles to make amends with president-elect Trump after working to boost Clinton.
Donald Trump wasn’t the only presidential candidate whose campaign was boosted by officials of a former Soviet bloc country.
A Politico investigation found
<><>Ukrainian govt officials helped Hillary and trashed Trump, questioning his fitness for office.
<><>They disseminated documents implicating a top Trump aide in corruption
<><>They suggested they were investigating the matter, only to back away after the election.
<><>They helped Clinton’s allies research damaging information on Trump and his advisers.
A Ukrainian-American operative who was consulting for the Democratic National Committee met with top officials in the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington in an effort to expose ties between Trump, top campaign aide Paul Manafort and Russia, according to people with direct knowledge of the situation.
The Ukrainian efforts had an impact in the race, helping to force Manafort’s resignation and advancing the narrative that Trump’s campaign was deeply connected to Ukraine’s foe to the east, Russia. But they were far less concerted or centrally directed than Russia’s alleged hacking and dissemination of Democratic emails.
Russia’s effort was personally directed by Russian President Vladimir Putin, involved the country’s military and foreign intelligence services, according to U.S. intelligence officials. They reportedly briefed Trump last week on the possibility that Russian operatives might have compromising information on the president-elect. And at a Senate hearing last week on the hacking, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said “I don’t think we’ve ever encountered a more aggressive or direct campaign to interfere in our election process than we’ve seen in this case.”
There’s little evidence of such a top-down effort by Ukraine. Longtime observers suggest that the rampant corruption, factionalism and economic struggles plaguing the country — not to mention its ongoing strife with Russia — would render it unable to pull off an ambitious covert interference campaign in another country’s election.
And President Petro Poroshenko’s administration, along with the Ukrainian Embassy in Washington, insists that Ukraine stayed neutral in the race.