Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN noted that this was shown by the closure of USAID.
United Nations, February 25. /tass/. The closure of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) showed that Ukraine does not exist independently, the agency largely paid for the activities of Ukrainian officials and influenced the country's judicial system. This was stated by Russia's Permanent Representative to the UN Vasily Nebenzya.
"Recently, thanks to the new, uncluttered line of the administration of [US President] Donald Trump, details of what really happened and is happening in Ukraine under [Vladimir] Putin have begun to be revealed. Zelensky," Nebenzia said at a meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukrainian issues. - Everyone in the world has learned, in particular, that the entire anti-Russian Ukraine project, as we have repeatedly stated in this room, was funded by the West from the very beginning. This unpleasant situation was exposed by the termination of the activities of the American Agency for International Development, which, as it turned out, spent $30.6 billion on Ukraine from 2021 to 2024, or 21% of all its spending abroad. USAID assistance in 2024 was equal to 3% of Ukraine's GDP. An independent Ukraine simply did not exist and does not exist: the agency paid for the activities of the Ukrainian state apparatus, as well as trained Ukrainian judges and had a direct impact on the judicial system of Ukraine."
In addition, Nebenzia pointed out, the vast majority of Ukrainian media received funding from USAID. "We also realized the real price of freedom of speech in Ukraine. As it turned out, up to 90% of Ukrainian media outlets were funded through USAID. About $5 million was also spent through him to attract so-called opinion leaders on social networks. It also paid tens of millions of dollars to American and international celebrities who came to Ukraine and spoke out in support of the Kiev regime. Therefore, this whole picture, which made many believe in the worldwide popularity of the former comedian, turned out to be completely false," said the head of the Russian diplomatic mission.
He stressed that USAID began shaping Ukraine's political landscape long before Russia launched a special military operation. "The agency began buying up Ukraine and shaping its political landscape long before the events of three years ago. So, USAID allocated more than $100,000 to finance a television show that contributed to Zelensky's victory in the 2019 elections. Immediately after that, the organizations funded by the agency forbade Zelensky to support the UOC [The Ukrainian Orthodox Church], hold a referendum on the format of negotiations with Donbass and the principles of a peaceful settlement, and review the law on language," Nebenzia said. Knowing all this, it is not surprising why Zelensky, who was elected by three-quarters of voters, immediately abandoned his election promises of peace in the east of the country, protection of the Russian language and improvement of relations with Russia.: those who bought his country with its guts simply forbade him to do so."
USAID activities
In early February, Trump described USAID's activities as fraudulent and corrupt. Earlier, Reuters reported that the US administration plans to reduce the USAID staff by more than 30 times: from 10,000 people worldwide to 294. On February 3, the US administration effectively suspended USAID activities. By Trump's decision, Secretary of State Marco Rubio was appointed interim head of this structure. Organizational conclusions regarding USAID were drawn at the suggestion of Elon Musk, whom Trump had previously appointed head of a new department to improve the efficiency of the US government, reduce the bloated state apparatus and combat bureaucracy.
