Politico: State Department Pushing To Release More Frozen Ukraine Funds

• 26.02.2025, 12:53

The details have been unveiled.

Senior State Department officials are compiling a list of additional exemptions to the foreign aid freeze for Ukraine that could give the country access to some economic and security-related assistance currently on hold.

This has been reported by Politico.

If enacted, the waivers would go beyond ones that Secretary of State Marco Rubio has allowed worldwide for “core life-saving” assistance to fund programs such as demining and narcotics control.

It was not clear if an exemption for State Department-controlled foreign military financing was in the works for Ukraine.

On a practical level, it’s uncertain that additional Ukraine aid would make it to Kyiv even with new exemptions, given that already approved waivers for humanitarian aid have been largely stymied. But politically, the efforts to expand Ukraine exemptions hint at divisions inside the Trump team over how to deal with Kyiv.

The State Department sidestepped a question about whether new Ukraine waivers had been granted, saying in a statement that “programs that serve our nation’s interests will continue. However, programs that aren’t aligned with our national interest will not.” Spokespersons for the State Department and the National Security Council did not respond to requests for comment about whether additional Ukraine waivers were being discussed.

According to the document, plans for the exemptions date to at least late January, days after the Trump administration imposed the broad foreign aid freeze, according to the document. The exemptions proposed in it covered programs ranging from general economic support to landmine removal to narcotics control and health programs.