THE United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has been notified by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation that all activity in Russia should be ceased by October 1, 2012. According to a press release from the Russian Embassy in Guyana, the decision to stop all USAID operations in the country was made because they believe the character of work of representatives of the agency in Russia was not always in conformity with the declared goals in providing assistance to development of bilateral humanitarian cooperation.
The release further stated that inclusive of the elections of different levels and civic institutions through grant distributions, there have been attempts to influence political processes. Activities of the agency in Russian regions, especially in the northern Caucuses, were of serious concerns which were communicated to the American counterparts.
“It should be noted that Russia is one of ‘the new donors’ in international organisations and abandons the states of the recipient of help. Russian civil society has matured and does not need any guidance from outside,” the release stated.
Nevertheless, the Russian government is open for cooperation with the Agency for International Development in projects in third world countries which urgently need humanitarian aid. However, this cooperation envisions strict abidance of the principles of equal rights, respect of each other’s interests and not interference into the internal affairs.