UNITED NATIONS, April 30. /TASS/. All UN members must make their mandatory contributions to the organization's budget, without exception, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres stated in response to journalists’ requests to comment on reports that the US administration is threatening to freeze UN funding unless certain conditions are met.
"The money we are talking about is referred to as assessed contributions. Assessed contributions are an obligation of member states. They are non-negotiable. Obviously, we will do our best to pursue our reforms and to make sure that we make this organization as effective and as cost effective, and is able to deliver for the people we care for, but these are two separate things," Guterres said.
According to internal diplomatic memos of the Trump administration reviewed by Devex, Washington is threatening to withhold hundreds of millions of dollars in UN funding unless the organization agrees to a series of rapid reforms. Among the demands are further reductions in administrative costs and measures to block China from channeling tens of millions of dollars into a discretionary fund in the UN Secretary-General's office. The documents note that while the US acknowledges recent UN steps to cut the administrative budget by 15% and eliminate up to 3,000 positions, this is not enough for Washington to fulfill its contractual obligations to pay contributions in full.
The US paid $160 million in contributions in February 2026. However, according to the Associated Press, the United States’ debt to the UN remains at $3.84 billion.