US plans to put squeeze on UN to curb its budget

May 1, 1981

The United States will freeze its contribution to the United Nations, starting in 1983, to force the organization into the same type of budget control that Washington is doing, US officials said. Elliott Abrams, designated assistant secretary of state for international organization affairs, said that starting in 1984 the US will not make its annual payment to the UN until October -- a nine-month delay.

Although Mr. Abrams did not officially announce it, American diplomats disclosed that the Reagan administration also intends to f reeze its annual contributions to the UN and its numerous agencies as of 1983.