US cuts funding to UN by $285m

The US has announced a quarter billion dollar cut to the annual budget of the United Nations (UN), reports CNN on Wednesday.

The largest contributor to the UN negotiated a $285 million reduction for the 2018-19 budget compared to 2016-17.

"We will no longer let the generosity of the American people be taken advantage of or remain unchecked," US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said in a statement Sunday.

The announced cut was $85 million more than the one announced by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

A spokesperson for the UN secretary general confirmed the cuts had been approved, says the CNN report.

The US and UN agreed to cuts to 'bloated management and support functions' and adjusted budgets for Darfur and Haiti, a US official told CNN.

Political missions in Libya, Yemen, Colombia, Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries and a special envoy for Myanmar will be funded, the US official said.

On November 22, Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Myanmar government's actions regarding the Rohingya minority amounted to 'ethnic cleansing'.

The US recently used its veto power in the UN Security Council for the first time in several years to block a resolution criticising the Trump administration's decision to recognise the contested city of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.