The United States continues to owe UN dues, and the UN Secretary-General has spoken out! On January 31, according to a report from Sputnik News, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned in a letter to all member states that the UN is facing an imminent risk of financial collapse due to insufficient funding. Guterres stated that either all member states must fulfill their payment obligations in a timely and full manner, or the financial rules must be fundamentally revised to avoid the impending financial collapse.
Evidently, this letter from Guterres is essentially a call for the payment of UN dues, and the largest debtor of UN dues is the United States. Although it mainly targets the United States for payment, the UN Secretary-General sent the letter to all member states, which can be said to be a perfectly handled situation. First, this naturally aims to indicate that he is not targeting the United States specifically, so that Trump should not think too much. Second, this may also be hoping that other member states will speak out and put pressure on the United States.
In fact, after Trump took office in January 2025, he almost stopped paying UN dues. Moreover, the United States is using the arrears to pressure the UN and cut multilateral investments. The United States has accumulated arrears for the regular budget, peacekeeping funds, and various contributions exceeding $3 billion, accounting for 70%-90% of the total global arrears. On January 1, 2026, the United States paid back $2 billion, of which $1.5 billion was used to settle old debts and $500 million was directed funds, leaving a remaining arrears of nearly $1.3 billion.
According to Article 19 of the UN Charter, there is a legal red line that "arrears exceeding two years' payments" could lead to the loss of voting rights at the General Assembly. Guterres is stating the truth, and if the United States does not pay, the UN's operational funds will run out by July this year. In fact, after Trump started his own "Peace Commission" and withdrew from multiple international organizations, the United States has shown less interest in the UN. It is possible that the United States will again delay until the last minute to make the payment. Clearly, the United States' behavior is increasingly affecting the normal operation of the UN.
Original: toutiao.com/article/1855795255707723/
Statement: This article represents the views of the author.