Another US official said US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had been informed of Moscow’s decision when she attended an Asia-Pacific summit in Vladivostok earlier this month.
She had written a letter to her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov about the decision which was transmitted Tuesday, he added, without revealing the contents.
Nuland said it was up to Russia as a sovereign nation to decide whether to end USAID activities, but she said the US hoped to be able to continue “our cooperation with Russian non-governmental organizations.”
Election watchdog Golos, which exposed violations in the December parliamentary polls, is thought to have received half of its funding from USAID. If the funding is lost, the organization could face an uncertain future.
“It is our hope that Russia will now itself assume full responsibility and take forward all of this work that we were proud to do together so that the Russian people continue to have the benefit,” Nuland said.
She also stressed that the United States would continue to look to how it could work with non-government organizations in Russia.
A senior US government official said there were about 13 international staff working on USAID programs in Moscow, and about 60 Russian staff.
USAID works in more than 100 countries to carry out US foreign policy by promoting progress and seeking to expand stable societies, as well as foster goodwill and create trading partners.
It was founded in 1961, under a transformation led by then president John F. Kennedy aimed at bringing several foreign aid organizations and programs together under one agency.
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