Trump’s Disinterest Has Stalled Ukraine’s Democracy

Despite the relentless Russian bombing of Ukrainian cities since this summer’s start, Kyiv recently chalked up some impressive wins. A week after “pausing” some U.S. arms shipments to Ukraine, President Donald Trump reversed policies again; on Monday, at a White House meeting with NATO chief Mark Rutte, Trump announced a new weapons pipeline for Ukraine. And at the Ukraine Recovery Conference in Rome on July 10-11, the Europeans above all reached deep into their coffers to raise about 3.55 billion euros ($4.15 billion) for recovery, municipal infrastructure, energy, heat supply, transport, and business support.

But neither the United States nor the Europeans stepped up to replace funding for the democracy, human rights, and governance programs that the Trump administration slashed earlier this year. This funding, which last year totaled $286 million, was crucial to driving key public sector reforms.