Among the new executive orders of the U.S. president, it was revealed that Donald Trump made the decision to freeze all foreign aid for at least 90 days. Meanwhile, Ukraine might not be affected thanks to the aid received from the previous administration and the type of programs that could be impacted. The new White House administration brought several debates to the international stage, from the idea of urging European countries to allocate more funds for defense within NATO to the idea of ending the war in Ukraine and seeking an agreement. Trump made it clear that the United States will make its voice heard.

In this regard, in recent hours, the 47th president of the United States executed a new order, adding to the thousands already signed since his rise last Monday, January 20. According to the information disclosed, the decision was made to reverse all international financial assistance, such as development programs of United Nations agencies, peacekeeping initiatives, and refugee support programs.

As soon as this emerged, many media outlets speculated about Ukraine’s situation regarding the military and civil aid it has been receiving from the North American country since the beginning of the war. While this is the case, the executive order targeting various programs would exclude Ukraine from the suspension. This was confirmed by Ukraine’s State Center for Disinformation in a statement: “Ukraine receives assistance from the U.S. under the Presidential Drawdown Authority (PDA), the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative (USAI), and Foreign Military Financing (FMF) programs. The executive order does not apply to these programs.”

However, the order Trump signed does not specify which types of U.S. foreign aid programs will be frozen. It added that all department and agency heads responsible for foreign development aid programs must “immediately pause new obligations and disbursements” for 90 days while the aid is reviewed for “programmatic efficiency and consistency with U.S. foreign policy.”

Despite this, the U.S. Agency for International Development’s (USAID) reconstruction programs in Ukraine contain fine print that analysts highlighted. Some mention that the presidential order appears to be primarily directed at programs managed by USAID, responsible for distributing $22 billion in civil and development aid. That would also harm Ukraine, as it includes initiatives like the restoration of bombed energy facilities and demining, said Maksym Samoiliuk, an expert in monetary and fiscal policy at the Center for Economic Strategy.

Finally, it was clarified that if a suspension occurs, Ukraine would be secured: “In terms of budget funding, we are secured. The administration of (former President Joe) Biden transferred all funds from the ERA initiative ($50 billion) to the World Bank,” said Roksolana Pidlasa, head of the budget committee in Ukraine’s Parliament, to POLITICO. It is worth noting that the last assistance package to Ukraine’s Armed Forces, the seventy-third arms package, was announced just days before the end of 2024. It includes the delivery of air defense missiles and various types of artillery ammunition. Various White House sources stated at the time that the shipment was expedited before the new president’s inauguration, who has been critical on several occasions of the use of U.S. weapons by Ukrainian troops.

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