Trump pushes UN reform
US PRESIDENT Donald Trump made his debut at the United Nations yesterday with an address on UN reform as a week of intense diplomacy kicks off dominated by North Korea, Iran and Myanmar.
Trump, who once disparaged the world body as a “club” for “people to get together, talk and have a good time”, will lay out his views on how to improve the United Nations a day before he makes his first address to the General Assembly.
About 130 world leaders are attending this year’s global gathering, but all eyes will be on Trump, whose “America First” agenda has alarmed both allies and foes.
The UN’s number one financial backer, the US has threatened deep cuts to UN funding that SecretaryGeneral Antonio Guterres has said would create an “unsolvable problem” for the world body.
Guterres, who is pushing for an overhaul of the UN bureaucracy, will also address the event at which leaders will sign a pledge of support for reform. France and Russia have reacted coolly to the US initiative, amid concerns that the US is focused more on cost-cutting than improving the UN’s performance.
US Ambassador Nikki Haley was a driving force behind a $600-million cut to the UN peacekeeping budget this year. Haley on Friday pointed to the more than 120 countries that back the US-drafted political declaration on UN reform as a “miraculous number”, showing there is support for a “massive reform package” led by Guterres.
Yesterday Trump held talks with French President Emmanuel Macron, who will make his maiden address at the General Assembly today, and with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Both Macron and Netanyahu are expected to raise the Iran nuclear agreement, with the French leader making a strong case for keeping it alive and the Israeli prime minister pushing for its demise.
Trump will also have a working dinner with Latin American leaders to touch on the Venezuela crisis.
North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests will be in the spotlight with foreign ministers set to discuss enforcing sanctions against Pyongyang during a Security Council meeting on non-proliferation on Thursday.
Also on Thursday, Trump will meet with Japanese and South Korean leaders who back the US drive to ratchet up North Korea sanctions.
The council last week imposed a new raft of measures such as a ban on export textiles and a cap on oil shipments to pile pressure on Pyongyang to come to the table and negotiate an end to its nuclear and missile programmes. — AFP