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发帖数: 187 | 1 (CNN) -- Russia has thrown out the United States Agency for International
Development, the U.S. State Department said, claiming that the aid agency
has undermined Russia's sovereignty.
"We have recently received a decision of the Russian Government to end USAID
activities there," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said this
week. "The United States is extremely proud of what USAID has accomplished
in Russia over the last 20 years, and we will work with our partners and
staff to responsibly end or transition those programs."
Senior Russian officials have said that some of the agency's programs, such
as some human rights groups and election monitoring, have undermined Russia'
s sovereignty, according to the state news agency RIA Novosti.
Nuland, speaking at a State Department briefing Wednesday, countered with:
The issue of protecting Russia's sovereignty came up several times during
the run-up to Russia's presidential election this year.
On election night in Moscow in March, Vladimir Putin punctuated his victory
speech with a jab at foreign influence when he said: "We showed that no one
can impose anything on us -- no one, nothing! We showed that our people can
distinguish between the desire for renewal and political provocation that
has but one goal: to destroy Russia's statehood and usurp power."
In December, he blamed U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for giving a
"signal" to Russians protesting his rule to turn out for street
demonstrations. |
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