Hundreds of millions of dollars in energy aid promised to Ukraine under former US President Joseph Biden remain unpaid as the freezing winter pushes the country's war-damaged energy system to the limit. This is due to the decisions of the current US President Donald Trump regarding the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
Reuters reports this, citing sources familiar with the matter.
According to the sources, which include American and Ukrainian officials, the funds were originally intended to help Ukraine import liquefied natural gas and rebuild energy infrastructure damaged by russian strikes. According to the newspaper's sources, it is about USD 250 million.
Two anonymous sources said that the US Agency for International Development during the administration of former President Joe Biden informed Congress of its intention to allocate at least part of these funds. However, after USAID was effectively shut down in the first weeks of the Trump administration, some of the funds were caught in what the sources described as bureaucratic limbo.
Some administration officials have advocated for the US State Department, which oversees what remains of USAID, to disburse the funds, the sources said. Others have pushed for the Development Finance Corporation, a previously little-known federal agency that is expected to play an important role in Ukraine's reconstruction, to take on the role.
The Ukrainian official said Kyiv is also aware of this, but fears that raising the topic could provoke a diplomatic backlash. US President Donald Trump has sometimes reacted coldly to Ukraine's requests for help. Meanwhile, Halyna Yusypiuk, a spokeswoman for the Ukrainian Embassy in the United States, said that Ukraine and the United States are closely cooperating on energy-related issues.
The White House Office of Management and Budget, apparently referring to a critical report by the USAID inspector general, suggested that energy assistance funds to Ukraine have been misused in the past.
"The administration of former President Joe Biden had pledged significant funding for Ukraine's energy infrastructure in multiple funding pots. In mid-2024, for instance, the State Department announced USD 824 million in energy infrastructure assistance to Ukraine," the representative wrote in an email.
In addition, energy aid to Ukraine has long been withheld due to concerns about widespread corruption in the country's energy sector, one source said.
According to information obtained by Reuters, Ukrainian officials told foreign diplomats in Kyiv that all of the country's major energy facilities have been "damaged or destroyed." The presentation indicated that unmet energy needs amounted to approximately USD 807 million
"They're preparing for the fact that people in the upper (stories) of apartment buildings are going to freeze to death. They're preparing to retrieve the bodies. It's extremely grim," said Mykola Murskyi, advocacy director of the nonprofit organization Razom, which supports Ukraine, about the cold snap expected next week.
As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, meanwhile, the head of Lithuania is asking the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate as a crime of genocide russia's systematic attacks on energy, heat, heating, and water infrastructure of Ukraine in the midst of winter, and to consider issuing new arrest warrants for officials of the aggressor state of russia responsible for these attacks.
According to weather forecasters, a cold snap will begin in Ukraine on January 30, and severe frosts are expected to peak in early February. During February 1-4, frosts are expected to peak, reaching -20-28 degrees and sometimes lower at night. The coldest will be in the north of the country, including the capital.
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