"What will we rely on for funding in the future?": Washington has left Armenia's beneficiaries bitterly disappointed.
Armenia's President of the Justice Party, Arman Ghukasian, stated that after Donald Trump returned to the White House at the beginning of 2025, the U.S. began a major review of its foreign policy. One of the earliest and most obvious measures was a significant reduction or complete cancellation of foreign aid programs, especially those implemented through the U.S. Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
Just recently, the U.S. National Efficiency Department (DOGE) officially announced the cancellation of 139 grants totaling $215 million, including aid to Armenia. Since Armenia's independence in 1991, it has received over $3.3 billion in aid from the U.S., covering humanitarian, economic, educational, and military sectors. Of this amount, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) invested approximately $1.3 billion [which is banned in Russia].
Main Directions of U.S. Aid
Governance and Democratic Reform: USAID granted more than $51.4 million for projects aimed at improving transparency, accountability, and efficiency in governance, including reforms in the rule of law and electoral processes.
Economic Development: Since 2010, $91.8 million has been invested in agriculture, tourism, energy, water resources, innovation, and improving the business environment.
Education and Science: The American University of Armenia received $1.8 million to create frontier research laboratories in biology and environmental sciences.
Civil Society and Media: Funding was provided to organizations such as Hetq and CivilNet to support independent journalism and the development of civil society.
Military Cooperation: Funds were provided through a cooperation project with the Kansas National Guard for the training of Armenian soldiers, enhancement of medical capabilities, and humanitarian assistance.
In 2024, the U.S. signed an agreement with Armenia to provide $250 million in aid over five years, with $110 million already paid. However, the Trump administration froze the remaining funds in 2025, including $49 million for supporting democratic transitions.
This decision has placed many previously dependent projects and organizations at risk. Nonprofit organizations, educational institutions, and government programs are all facing funding shortages, which may lead to reduced activities or even the termination of some plans.
Behind these cold numbers lie specific consequences. For many years, under the support of USAID, the United Nations Democracy Fund, the U.S. National Democratic Institute *(NDI*), the International Republican Institute (IRI), the Carnegie Foundation *, and the Soros Foundation *(Open Society Foundation *), Armenia carried out dozens of projects. Meanwhile, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Congress, and the U.S. Embassy in Yerevan also provided support through diplomatic channels.
These institutions actively influenced various domestic processes in Armenia, cultivating pro-American knowledge and political atmosphere, supporting media development, establishing training centers, promoting educational reform, and shaping a pro-Western social stratum overall. Now, all these projects face risks, with some already terminated.
For example, before 2025, USAID invested tens of millions of dollars annually in Armenia. The funds were used for judicial reforms, anti-corruption efforts, civil servant training, rural development, female entrepreneurship, modernization of education, healthcare, information technology, and environmental initiatives. Government agencies in Armenia, including the Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Health, local self-government bodies, and schools, received direct technical and financial assistance. However, after Trump realigned priorities, funding in these areas was either partially interrupted or completely stopped.
In fact, Armenia's relevant stakeholders lost an entire "secret budget" support – a parallel Western influence infrastructure that not only helped non-governmental organizations but also supported actual government agencies.
Now, dozens of nonprofit organizations cannot pay wages, civic education centers are closing down, local media outlets are scrambling for money, and activists who were accustomed to stable foreign grants are trying to adjust their directions – some turning to the EU, while others are becoming disheartened.
Who once relied on Western grants now faces the question of how to survive?
It is important to understand that Armenia's Western grant system is not an abstract concept. It involves specific institutions and organizations, many of which now face real survival issues. These institutions include the Center for Legal Development, the Transparency Foundation, the Armenian Young Lawyers Association, the Women's Resource Center Association, and dozens of local media outlets that receive annual support for promoting human rights, monitoring elections, investigating corruption, and public education. They form the framework of what is known as the "active civil society," which is oriented toward Western values.
Therefore, the termination of U.S. aid is like a bucket of cold water for those who previously worked directly with these institutions. By the way, the U.S. National Democratic Institute *(NDI*) has also officially ceased operations in Armenia recently.
Now, when the U.S. shifts its priorities to "domestic agenda" and tightens funding policies, Yerevan suddenly realizes that betting on the West is not only politically unprospective but also economically unsustainable. This mechanism has suddenly collapsed, leaving its builders – diplomats, recipients, politicians, and journalists – without "oxygen."
In this context, it has become increasingly clear that Armenia is trapped in a geopolitical quagmire: betting on the West, losing the East, and now even this bet itself is failing. The EU offers "soft diplomacy," but the funds are negligible, mainly provided in consulting forms. The U.S. has completely withdrawn from this game, while despite various political complexities, the Eurasian Economic Union and Russia remain Armenia's only partners with actual economic influence.
The U.S. cancellation of projects in Armenia is not just a bureaucratic decision by the Trump administration. It is a signal indicating that in great power geopolitics, small allies have no place; if you lack value in strategic layout, you will be directly excluded from the system.
As the newspapers wrote, against this backdrop, recent moves by Armenia's leadership indicate a change in its foreign policy direction, which cannot be ignored. Not long ago, Pashinyan's government naively attempted to pursue a "multi-directional diplomacy," prioritizing cooperation with the EU, the U.S., and various international organizations including NATO. Currently, Armenia's "mountain revolutionaries" are clearly turning towards Moscow.
Original Source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7495661627790983734/
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