The European Union has urged the United States to keep funding United Nations agencies and stay committed to the global deal combating climate change.
The EU action came as Washington pushed the 28-state bloc to increase its pressure on Syria, North Korea and Iran.
Reuters Newsagency reports United States President Donald Trump has proposed an unspecified reduction in funding for the UN and its agencies, as well as enforcement of a 25 per cent cap on US funding for peacekeeping operations.
Agencies such as the UN children’s agency UNICEF, the World Food Program and the UN refugee agency UNHCR are funded voluntarily by governments and the US is a top contributor to many of them.
“Let me be very clear, and speak directly to our American friends. It is essential for us that we all keep investing in these UN agencies,” EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini told the UN Security Council.
“They are as important to global peace and security as defence spending, or even more,” Ms Mogherini added.
She said EU funding amounted to half the agencies’ total budgets and was a contribution “to our own common security.”
Washington also pays 22 per cent of the US$5.4 billion core UN budget and 28.5 per cent of the US$7.9 billion peacekeeping budget.
The 193-member UN General Assembly agrees these assessed contributions.
Reuters reports President Trump complained last month that the US shoulders an unfair burden of the cost of the UN, but said if the world body reforms how it operates, the investment would be worth it.
Ms Mogherini also pushed Washington to stay committed to a global agreement to combat climate change; a deal that President Trump has threatened to quit.
He has promised to announce a decision by the end of May.
“Climate change is real, and is already impacting on our security environment. Everything is linked.
“So we continue to hope that the US will find a way to remain committed to the Paris Agreement,” Ms Mogherini said.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley called on the EU to “apply more rigorous sanctions” on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government and “impose tough autonomous measures” on North Korea and downgrade diplomatic and economic ties with the Asian state.
On Iran, Ms Haley told the Security Council: “The EU can and should do more to underscore to Iran that its destabilising actions in the region, including support for extremist and terrorist groups, must cease.”
