Deal reached on cuts to UN peacekeeping: Diplomat

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.