US Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power has warned that
cutting US funding to the United Nations would be “extremely detrimental” to
American interests, one week before Donald Trump’s administration takes office.
Addressing her final news conference, Power told reporters
that “countries like Russia and China” would benefit from Washington’s reduced
standing at the United Nations if funding were withdrawn.
“We lead the world, in part, by leading at the UN,” said
Power, who is stepping down next week after four years as President Barack
Obama’s ambassador to the United Nations.
“If we were to tie our hands behind our back or strip this
organization of programming” to support peace mediation or humanitarian work,
“this would be extremely detrimental to US interests,” she said.
Power also warned the incoming Trump administration that it
would be “very wise” to preserve the Iran nuclear deal that the president-elect
has vowed to scrap.
The United States is by far the UN’s biggest financial
contributor, providing 22 percent of its operating budget and funding 28% of
peacekeeping missions, which currently cost $8 billion annually.
Trump, who will take office on January 20, has dismissed the
United Nations as “just a club for people to get together and have a good
time.”
After the council voted to demand an end to Israeli
settlements in the West Bank, Trump warned on Twitter: “As to the UN, things
will be different after Jan. 20th.”
Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike fumed over the
UN’s reprimand of Israel.
The Republican-led US House of Representatives voted
overwhelmingly last week to condemn the resolution, noting that the Obama
administration’s refusal to use its veto power “undermined” Washington’s
decades-long position of shielding its closest Middle East ally at the United
Nations.
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