Kremlin halts US aid agency work

The United States has said Russia is ending the US Agency for International Development’s aid operations in the country, dealing a blow to President Barack Obama’s policy of “resetting” relations between Washington and Moscow.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland says Russia informed the US of its decision last week and that USAID’s office there would be closing.

She did not give a reason for Russia’s decision, but the Kremlin has long complained about US democracy and human rights promotion efforts.

The aid agency says it worked in Russia for two decades promoting “a more open and innovative society and a strengthened partnership between Russia and the United States.”

It spent more than €2.6bn on social and economic programmes.