Secretary of State of the U.S. State Department Marco Rubio announced the freezing of nearly all foreign assistance worldwide for a period of 90 days, with a thorough review of all programs to be carried out, according to an internal State Department memo, quoted by AFP.

The notice makes exceptions only for emergency food aid and for military funding for Israel and Egypt, while the rest of the foreign funds will be temporarily suspended, IPN reports, with reference to the quoted source.

The memo does not specifically mention any other countries that receive foreign military financing like Ukraine, which got considerable aid from the U.S. during the previous administration, under the leadership of Joe Biden, to support the fights against the Russian invasion.

The memo calls for immediate "stop work" orders on existing foreign assistance and pauses new aid. It follows President Trump's executive order issued on Monday for a 90-day pause in foreign development assistance pending a review of efficiencies and consistency with his foreign policy.

This decision reflects concerns expressed by Trump that much of the foreign aid is not aligned with U.S. interests and, in many cases, could run counter to U.S. values.

Rubio's memo, justifying the freeze, said it was impossible for the new administration to assess whether existing foreign aid commitments "are not duplicated, are effective and are consistent with President Trump's foreign policy".