The U.S. has allocated $5 billion since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 to support democracy in Ukraine, U.S. Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland said. "That money has been spent on supporting the aspirations of the Ukrainian people to have a strong, democratic government that represents their interests," Nuland said in an interview with CNN. "We certainly didn't spend any money supporting the Maidan," she added, calling it a spontaneous movement.