UPDATE 1-UN chief Guterres warns of 'imminent financial collapse'

The U.N. chief has told states that ‌the organisation is at risk of "imminent financial collapse", citing unpaid fees and a budget rule that ⁠forces the global body to return unspent money, according to a letter seen by Reuters on Friday. "The crisis is deepening, threatening programme delivery ​and risking financial collapse. And the situation will deteriorate further in the ‍near future," United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres wrote in a letter to ambassadors dated January 28. The U.N. is facing a cash crisis as the world body's ⁠largest contributor - ‌the United States - ⁠has slashed voluntary funding to U.N. agencies and refused to make mandatory payments ‍to the U.N.'s regular and peacekeeping budgets.

In the letter, Guterres said "decisions not ​to honour assessed contributions that finance a significant share of the approved ⁠regular budget have now been formally announced." It was not immediately clear which state ⁠or states he was referring to and a U.N. spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.

“Either all Member States honour their ⁠obligations to pay in full and on time – or Member States must ⁠fundamentally overhaul our ‌financial rules to prevent an imminent financial collapse," he said, warning that cash could run out by ⁠July.