US plans initial payment towards billions owed to UN, envoy Waltz says

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The United States will make an initial payment towards the billions of dollars it owes to the United Nations in a matter of weeks, the U.S. ambassador to the world body told Reuters on Friday, while stressing the need for the U.N. to continue reforms.

Mike Waltz made the comments in a telephone interview two weeks after U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres sounded the alarm on U.N. finances and warned that the 193-country organization is at risk of "imminent financial collapse" due to unpaid fees, the majority of which are owed by Washington.

"You'll certainly see an initial tranche of money very shortly," Waltz said. "It'll be a significant ... down payment on our annual dues ... I don't believe that the ultimate figure is decided, but it'll be in a matter of weeks."

U.N. officials say more than 95 percent of what is owed to the regular U.N. budget is owed by the United States - $2.19 billion by the start of February. The U.S. also owes another $2.4 billion for current and past peace-keeping missions and $43.6 million for U.N. tribunals.

On December 30, the U.N. General Assembly approved $3.45 billion for the regular U.N. budget for 2026, following weeks of negotiations. This covers costs of running U.N. offices around the world, including the headquarters in New York, staff salaries, meetings and development and human rights work.

The U.N. funding crisis comes at a time when the United States under President Donald Trump has been retreating from multilateralism on numerous fronts. U.S. arrears to the United Nations have grown substantially during his presidency, even though America’s history of falling behind on its U.N. payments stretches back decades.

U.N. officials say the U.S. did not pay into the regular budget last year and owes $827 million for that, as well as $767 million for 2026.