U.S. Pays Millions in Overdue U.N. Fees

UNITED NATIONS — The United States on Friday paid $85.6 million to the financially beleaguered United Nations, reducing its debt to the regular budget to $366.3 million.

The payment was made two days after the Soviet Union, which is paying its own arrears, pledged the equivalent of $600 million to U.N. relief and reconstruction efforts in Afghanistan.

A U.N. statement said the U.S. payment was the second installment of the $188 million that President Reagan promised to pay by the end of the year.

The United States earlier paid $15.2 million.

A check for $85.6 million was delivered Friday afternoon by U.S. Ambassador Vernon A. Walters, the permanent U.N. representative, in a visit to Secretary General Javier Perez de Cuellar.

Despite the U.S. payment, the United Nations still faces a financial crisis.