The US ambassador to the Unitetd Nations asked the Europeans on May 9 to take more measures against Iran, North Korea and Syria.

Speaking at a Security Council meeting last Tuesday, Ambassador Nikki Haley said: "The European Union can and should do more to underscore to Iran that its destabilizing actions in the region, including support for extremist and terrorist groups, must cease."

Haley has repeatedly criticized Iran’s role in the Middle East, especially its role in the Syrian conflict.

On Syria, the US ambassador called on the EU to "apply more rigorous sanctions" on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his government and "impose tough autonomous measures" on North Korea and downgrade diplomatic and economic ties with the Asian state.

Haley was speaking in presence of the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini.

The European Union urged the United States on Tuesday to keep funding U.N. agencies and stay committed to a global deal combating climate change as Washington pushed the 28-state bloc to increase its pressure on Syria, North Korea and Iran.

U.S. President Donald Trump has proposed an unspecified reduction in funding for the United Nations and its agencies, as well as enforcement of a 25 percent cap on U.S. funding for peacekeeping operations.

Agencies such as the U.N. children's agency UNICEF, the World Food Progamme and the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR are funded voluntarily by governments and the United States is a top contributor to many of them.

"Let me be very clear, and speak directly to our American friends. It is essential for us that we all keep investing in these U.N. agencies. They are as important to global peace and security as defense spending – or even more," EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini told the U.N. Security Council.

She said EU funding amounted to half the agencies' total budgets and was a contribution "to our own common security."

(Based on Reuters)