Netanyahu Ad To Debut In Florida

[Purveyor]

22. See how Russia deals with this 'problem': Russia Says USAID Tried to Sway Politics, Confirms Ouster

By ALAN CULLISON

MOSCOW—Russia accused the U.S. of trying to influence elections inside the country under the guise of aid to pro-democracy groups, confirming it is kicking the U.S. Agency for International Development out of the country and warning it doesn't need any further the U.S. funding of civic groups.

The demarcation is the most serious blow yet to the "reset" in relations with Russia that had been an avowed accomplishment of the Obama administration. It signals that Vladimir Putin is planning a dramatically harder tack toward Russian civic groups, the fostering of which had been a key component the White House's "dual track" engagement of both the Kremlin and its critics.

In a tersely worded statement, Russia's foreign ministry said Russia was expelling USAID because the agency wasn't working within its stated goals, and that its workers were trying to "influence the political process through the distribution of grants" to groups of its choosing.

The ministry said USAID's activities raised "serious question" in Russia's regions, but especially in the North Caucasus, where the Kremlin is facing a simmering Islamist insurgency. The statement confirmed that USAID had until Oct. 1 to cease activities in Russia, a pressing deadline that U.S. officials had declined to mention previously in an apparent hope it would be delayed.

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