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Deal reached on cuts to UN peacekeeping: Diplomat
Washington pays 28.5 percent of the $7.9 billion budget for peacekeeping and 22 percent of the UN`s core budget of $5.4 billion.
United Nations: A tentative deal on nearly $600 million in cuts to the UN peacekeeping budget has been reached following weeks of tough negotiations over US demands for a sharp cost reduction, a Security Council diplomat said Wednesday.
The United Nations will spend $7.3 billion on peacekeeping in the coming year, down from the current $7.87 billion, said the diplomat who spoke on condition of anonymity.
The United States, the biggest financial contributor to the peacekeeping budget, had sought a nearly $1 billion cut to the bill.
Hardest-hit by the cuts will be the UN missions in Sudan`s troubled region of Darfur and in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the two costliest operations with budgets that run over $1 billion.
The diplomat said however that there were "cuts across the board" in peacekeeping as a result of US pressure to scale back the budget.
Washington pays 28.5 percent of the $7.9 billion budget for peacekeeping and 22 percent of the UN`s core budget of $5.4 billion.
The deal is expected to be approved by the UN General Assembly on Friday, when the annual budget for peacekeeping runs out.