The United States plans to allocate $725 million to the UN

The United States has announced its intention to allocate $ 725 million to the United Nations.

The administration of US President Donald Trump has notified Congress of its plan to transfer $ 725 million to the United Nations. This was reported by Reuters.

Experts assess the step as a positive step towards eliminating the UN's billions of dollars in debt. Previously, the Trump administration criticized the UN and reduced financial assistance to many of its agencies.

A US official said that the allocation of any funds would depend on the continuation of reforms in the organization. President Donald Trump will address the UN General Assembly in New York next month. The $ 725 million is being allocated ahead of that event. However, as of August 21, Washington had not yet transferred any funds.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has said the organization faces a “coming financial crisis” due to unpaid dues from member states this year.

“The United States has achieved historic reforms at the UN over the past six months. These reforms, previously considered impossible, include the first real budget cuts in UN history, resulting in cuts of almost $1 billion,” a State Department official said.

In April, the Devex media platform reported that the United States had set specific conditions for the release of funds, including further spending cuts and countering Chinese influence.

The $725 million is less than 20 percent of the more than $4 billion the UN says the United States owes. Although Washington has insisted the total is much lower and that some payments have been made.

Former UN official Eugene Chen said that such a transfer would help pay the salaries of the organization's staff for a while, but it may not cover all of them.

"If the United States does not make additional payments, it will probably lose its voting rights in January," said Eugene Chen.

According to Article 19 of the UN Charter, if a member state is more than two years in arrears in annual payments, it loses its voting rights in the General Assembly.

"If they pay a large part of the arrears, the UN will still continue to operate with zero reserves, but it will get through the year in one piece. If they do not pay, the UN could face serious problems in paying salaries and continuing its activities in the last two to three months of the year," added Ronnie Patz, an expert on UN finances at the German think tank IDOS.

The United States is the largest contributor to the UN budget. However, the Trump administration has refused to make mandatory payments and has also cut voluntary funding to UN agencies that have their own budgets.