FLASH
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The United States has transferred about $160 million to the United Nations, out of more than $4 billion owed to the organization's structures.
A UN spokesman said on Thursday that the payment constitutes a partial settlement of arrears for the regular budget.
"Last week, we received about $160 million from the United States as a partial payment of arrears to the UN regular budget," the spokesman was quoted as saying by Reuters.
UN officials report that as of early February, the United States owed $2.19 billion in regular budget payments, more than 95 percent of the total outstanding from all member states. For current and former peacekeeping missions, the obligation amounts to $2.4 billion, while for UN tribunals, it is $43.6 million.
The US remains the largest contributor to the organization's budget. However, during the Trump administration, Washington has suspended mandatory payments to the regular and peacekeeping budgets, and has reduced voluntary funding to various UN agencies. It has also withdrawn from several of the organization's agencies.
The latest payment was announced on the same day that President Donald Trump held his first summit with
"Peace Board," a structure he proposed as part of a plan to end the war in Gaza. In his opening remarks, Trump declared: "We will help them financially and we will make sure that the United Nations is stable."
"I think the United Nations has great potential, really great potential. It has not yet realized that potential," he added.
Trump created the board last month and initially envisioned it as a mechanism to oversee an interim administration in Gaza after the conflict. A Security Council resolution approved the structure until 2027, limiting its mandate to the Gaza Strip. Trump later said the board would also address other global conflicts.
Several countries, including countries from the Global South and Western allies of the US, have not joined the initiative. UN experts have expressed concern that such a structure could weaken the organization's role and have highlighted the lack of Palestinian representation. No UN representative attended Thursday's meeting.
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