By Antoni Slodkowski
UNITED NATIONS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - The Trump administration paid $725 million to the United Nations, the organization said on Wednesday, reducing Washington's large debt and ensuring it keeps its vote at the U.N. General Assembly convening in New York next week.
Trump has criticized the global body for not living up to its potential and slashed funding to many U.N. agencies. When asked about the planned payment last month, a U.S. official said any payments will be contingent on continued reforms of the U.N.
"We received $725 million yesterday from the United States for the U.N. regular budget, and we also received $102 million from the U.S. for peacekeeping on Friday," said U.N. spokesperson Farhan Haq.
"The U.S. still owes $1.312 billion to the regular budget," he said, adding that, "with these payments, the U.S. is no longer in jeopardy of falling under Article 19 for 2027."
Under Article 19 of the U.N. Charter, a member state loses its voting rights in the General Assembly if its arrears exceed two years in annual fees, although grace periods are possible.
The Trump administration has carried out an unprecedented shrinking of its federal government, saying it was bloated and has significantly cut back on domestic and foreign grants in an effort that it says was to put money into causes that aligned with U.S. taxpayer interests.
The U.S. is the biggest contributor to the U.N. budget, but under the Trump administration it has slow-walked mandatory payments to regular and peacekeeping budgets, and has slashed voluntary funding to U.N. agencies with their own budgets.
The second-biggest contributor, China, also paid $641.4 million on September 1 in its regular budget contributions, according to the U.N. website.
The U.N. has been undergoing a reform and cost-cutting exercise known as "UN80" amid its financial crisis.
(Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski; Editing by Howard Goller)
