The US conditions the payment of billions owed to the UN. Washington's demands behind the scenes of the organization

The United States has imposed specific conditions for unlocking the billions of dollars it owes the United Nations, including new spending cuts and actions aimed at countering China's influence at the organization, the Devex publication reported on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

According to Devex, an independent media organization specializing in global development, two diplomatic notes distributed by the US call for nine “rapid” reforms as a condition for the release of additional funds.

According to the cited source, the conditions imposed by the US include:

• reforming the UN pension system;
• elimination of long-haul business class travel for some management employees and all mid-level staff;
• new reductions in the number of positions in the management of the organization;
• a “10% reduction in peacekeeping missions deemed ineffective and long-standing”;
• blocking the ability for China to direct tens of millions of dollars annually to a discretionary fund in the UN secretary-general's office, a measure intended to limit Beijing's influence within the organization.

“These reforms will show that the UN is serious about the reform process,” Devex quotes from one of the documents.

The US mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Washington has repeatedly said it will continue to push for reform of the United Nations, after announcing this year it would withdraw from dozens of UN bodies and cutting funding by millions of dollars last year.

China's mission to the UN did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said the mandatory contributions by the United States and other member states were “a treaty obligation” and that U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was already leading “an extensive reform process” of the organization.

“This involves decisions that member states have to make if we want to have a more effective UN that uses its resources in the best possible way,” Dujarric told a news conference. “The Secretary General is doing everything he can in this direction.”

Guterres warned in January that the UN was facing “imminent financial collapse” due to unpaid contributions, most of which were owed by the United States. The organization announced in February that Washington had paid about $160 million of the more than $4 billion owed.

As of early February, the U.S. was $2.19 billion in arrears to the regular UN budget, representing more than 95 percent of the total then owed by all member states. In addition, Washington owed $2.4 billion for current and past peacekeeping missions and $43.6 million for UN tribunals.