Kremlin Soft Power will Have a Hard Rebuff

USAID Presented the Program of Support to former USSR Countries and Eastern Europe At the end of last week, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) announced the launch of the program “to counter malign Kremlin influence.” The goal of the program is to help Russia’s near and far neighbors reduce their energy and economic dependence on Moscow, combat Russian propaganda, and prevent cyberattacks. The Russian foreign Ministry called the document “a voice from the past”, which “sharply dissonant with the constructive tone” of the meeting of Putin and Trump in Osaka. According to experts the publication of the USAID program in the conditions of the growing pace of the election race in the U.S. is designed to prevent the normalization of Russian-American relations, regardless of who will become the future President. Introducing the new program of the U.S. Agency for international development at a presentation in Paris, USAID Administrator Mark Green recalled: the mission of his organization is to help o help countries on their “Journey to Self-Reliance.” The main obstacle to the free and democratic development of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union, Mr. Green called the policy of Moscow. The new framework Countering Malign Kremlin Influence should provide U.S. partners and allies with additional tools to drive Russia’s actions. “The regime in Moscow is not the only authoritarian power that is aggressively seeking a new ideological sphere of influence beyond its borders. However, in Europe and Eurasia, the Kremlin’s efforts are unmistakable. There is no other way to put it, Moscow is working relentlessly, undermining economic liberalization, reverse democratic development, and weaken the sovereignty of individual states” – Mark Green described the nuts and bolts of the framework. According to USAID, the Russian leadership is “deploying a range of tactics and tools”. Like in the information space, the Kremlin devotes almost $300 million each and every year on platforms like Russia Today and Sputnik International. Moscow also employs economic lines of manipulation, particularly in the energy sector.   It leverages the historic dependence of their neighbors on Russian oil and gas.  In turn, Washington is ready to provide the countries of Eastern Europe and the former USSR with financial support. Our assistance will include working with individual states to create effective, pro-growth, legal and regulatory frameworks, and assisting them in joining well-functioning local and regional energy markets. USAID is providing this assistance in Ukraine and Moldova. In places like Ukraine, where we are supporting efforts to transition power systems from synchronous connection with Russia to a new connection with Central Europe.    With our support, Moldova is shifting its trade westward.   Today, over 70 percent of Moldova’s exports go to the EU and only 16 percent go to Russia. We offer tools to help countries develop more representative political parties and civil society groups, conduct credible elections and tackle problems of corruption. We offer tools for reform-minded leaders and civil society voices to tackle the corrupt government practices that Kremlin agents often selectively exploit for Moscow's benefit”, Mr. Green said. According to him, the assistance provided by USAID allowed Ukraine to hold “free and fair elections.” USAID provided approximately $2.7 million in elections cybersecurity equipment and training for their Central Election Commission this year in order to support free and fair elections. Equally important in USAID called the program to support independent media. Such a program is already being implemented in Georgia, where, according to Mark Green, “hundreds of Georgian volunteers” work with USAID. 11 independent and credible media partners across Bosnia Herzegovina, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia are growing their audiences, diversifying their revenue, and elevating their digital media presence to push back on disinformation. Mark Green told nothing about the financing of the new framework. Commenting on the USAID initiative the Russian Foreign Ministry called it “a voice from the past”, which “sharply discordant with the constructive tone of the meeting between presidents Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump at the G20 Osaka Summit. Influential Washington functionaries are doing their best to prevent the normalization of Russian-American relations, to destroy them even more,” the Russian Foreign Ministry noted. USAID stopped its work in Russia in the autumn of 2012, before the Ukrainian crisis of 2014, during the presidency of Obama, when after a failed reset, relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate steadily. This happened after the Russian authorities considered the nature of USAID's work not always to meet the stated goals. The Russian Foreign Ministry report said that USAID through the distribution of grants tried to influence political processes and institutions of civil society. And now, seven years after the Agency’s departure from Russia, USAID has demonstrated that the Russian direction remains its priority. But the main struggle against the Kremlin's influence for USAID is now unfolding at the sites of third countries, traditionally located in the zone of strategic interests of Moscow. The concept is frankly aimed at planting Russophobia in the world, especially in our neighboring countries. The desire to sow fear of our country, intimidation imaginary by “Russian intervention” clearly shows a desire to subordinate them to the influence of the United States, set against Russia,” – said Russian Foreign Ministry. There is nothing unusual that the USAID report was released after the meeting of Putin and Trump at the G20 Osaka Summit. The bureaucratic machine in the United States has enormous inertia and reacts poorly to news topic, even when it comes to events involving the American President. So, whatever the U.S. President agreed with Vladimir Putin or some other leader, the “internal state” in America has its own logic and acts according to its settings, tried-and-tested for years,” explained Vladimir Batyuk, Chief Research Associate at the Russian Academy of Sciences' Institute for the U.S. and Canadian Studies. According to the expert, despite its routine nature, the USAID document may have a special resonance in connection with the growing momentum in the U.S. election campaign, following which a new President will be elected in November 2020. “President Trump has repeatedly demonstrated a determination to reduce the expenses outside of the United States that do not directly lead to the solution of internal problems of the country. However, the concept of USAID actually contradicts this logic of Trump, recalling that the “internal state” in the United States acts according to its canons, said Vladimir Batyuk and added that during the presidential race there will be some budget spending issues, and Donald Trump will have to defend his position again.” “At the same time, the main goal of the USAID report is to maintain a confrontational model of relations with Russia for years to come, regardless of who will become the future U.S. President,” the expert concludes. Kommersant