The Trump administration’s freeze of foreign funding has begun impacting an international effort to hold Russia responsible for alleged war crimes in Ukraine.
That’s according to eight sources and a Ukrainian document seen by Reuters, Ukrinform reports.
Ukraine has opened more than 140,000 war crime cases since Moscow’s February 2022 invasion, which has killed tens of thousands, ravaged vast swathes of the country and left behind mental and physical scars from occupation.
U.S.-funded international initiatives such as the Atrocity Crimes Advisory Group for Ukraine (ACA) have provided expertise and oversight to Ukrainian authorities.
At stake are six U.S.-funded projects at the Prosecutor General’s Office (PGO) valued at $89 million, according to a Ukrainian document on the U.S. funding and cuts seen by Reuters.
Funding for at least five of those projects has already been frozen.
Two of the listed projects were funded by USAID, three by the Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement and one directly by the Department of State, the document showed.
Of that funding, $47 million was directly allocated to war crimes accountability, the document showed.
Among the impacts of the spending freeze, nearly 40 experts provided through Georgetown’s International Criminal Justice Initiative, ACA’s lead implementing entity, have stopped working, according to two of the sources.
On January 20, U.S. President Donald Trump signed an executive order suspending all foreign aid programs for 90 days pending a review to determine whether they align with his policy goals.
Source: U.S. funding freeze slows investigation into Russian war crimes against Ukraine – Reuters
