Russia accused the United States on Wednesday of using its aid mission in Moscow to try to influence Russian politics and the outcome of elections, a day after Washington announced Moscow had ordered the mission's closure.
The U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID, has spent more than $2.7 billion in the two decades since the fall of the Soviet Union, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters Tuesday as she announced the closure, adding that it had planned to spend $50 million this year.
In a statement Wednesday, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said Moscow had serious questions over the operations of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in Russia's regions, especially in the North Caucasus where Russia is fighting a persistent Islamist insurgency.
"It's about attempts to influence political processes, including elections of various types, and institutions of civil society though the distribution of grants," the statement said, according to Reuters.
On Tuesday, Nuland said that while USAID would leave Russia “we remain committed to supporting democracy, human rights, and the development of a more robust civil society in Russia, and we look forward to continuing our close cooperation with Russian non-governmental organizations.”
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/19/13956839-russia-tells-us-we-dont-want-your-aid-money?litefunny how they start spouting off after the US announced the mission's closure.
