American agency for international development has until 1 October to shut its office in Moscow by Miriam Elder in Moscow and Chris McGreal in Washington The Guardian, Tuesday 18 September 2012 [...]About 60% of USAid's $50m budget for 2012 went to groups that promote democracy and human rights – a sharp increase from the Bush era. The agency first opened in Moscow in the wake of the Soviet Union's collapse....[... ] USAid's 13 diplomats will likely have to leave the country. The fate of the 60 locals that work for the office remains unclear. [... ] Putin has drawn on Cold War stereotypes and conspiracy theories on US involvement in the Arab Spring uprisings to blame the US for encouraging Russia's own opposition movement. Relations have plunged to further lows over Moscow's defiant stance against pressuring the regime of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad.