Nearly all of USAID’s global workforce will be placed on administrative leave starting Friday, according to a notice on the aid agency’s website Tuesday evening, a move that comes as President Donald Trump and several members of his administration have spoken of plans to review and potentially restructure or abolish parts of USAID.

Forces report

Russia has welcomed US President Donald Trump’s decision to shut down the US Agency for International Development (USAID), labeling it a “tool for interfering in other countries’ affairs.”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova stated that the agency was never about aid or development but rather a tool for political intervention and regime change. Russia expelled USAID in 2012, accusing it of funding opposition protests and meddling in elections. Moscow has also blamed the agency for supporting anti-Russian movements in Ukraine and Georgia to install pro-Western governments.

Al Akhbar