United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned, on Monday evening, that the world is “one step away from nuclear annihilation”, raising the specter of the Cold War, at a time when the United States, Britain and France called on Russia to abandon its “nuclear rhetoric.”
Guterres spoke of “aggravating” crises in the Middle East, the Korean peninsula and Ukraine, which is facing a Russian military operation, expressing his fears of an escalation.
“We have been exceptionally lucky so far. But luck is not a strategy, and it does not protect once morest geopolitical tensions that escalate to the point of a nuclear conflict,” he said at the start of a conference of the 191 signatories to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
Antonio Guterres
He added: “Mankind today is one misunderstanding, one uncalculated step away from nuclear annihilation,” considering that the world is facing “Unparalleled nuclear danger since the height of the Cold War.
“Humanity is in danger of forgetting the lessons learned from the horrific bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki,” he said, noting that he would go following a few days to Hiroshima on the anniversary of its bombing.
After being postponed several times since 2020 due to the Covid-19 epidemic crisis, the tenth conference to discuss the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which entered into force in 1970, will be held until the 26th of this month at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Guterres considered this conference an “opportunity to consolidate this treaty and harmonize it with today’s world”, expressing his hope to reaffirm the non-use of nuclear weapons and also to take “new commitments” to reduce the arsenal.
expressive
There is no winner in a nuclear war
He pointed out that “approximately 13,000 nuclear weapons are stored in arsenals around the world, at a time when the risks of proliferation are increasing and safeguards are weakened to prevent an escalation,” speaking in particular regarding the “crises” in the Middle East, the Korean peninsula and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
In January, the five permanent members of the Security Council (the United States, China, Russia, Britain and France) who are also nuclear powers, pledged to “prevent the further proliferation” of nuclear weapons, ahead of a new postponement of the conference on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and before the start of the Russian invasion. for Ukraine.
On Monday, the United States, Britain and France reaffirmed this pledge in a joint declaration, reiterating that “nuclear war cannot be won and should never be fought.”
However, the three nuclear powers criticized Russia’s “illegal and unjustified aggressive war once morest Ukraine,” calling on Moscow to respect its international obligations and “end its nuclear rhetoric and its irresponsible and dangerous behavior.”
“Text and spirit of the treaty”
Russian President Vladimir Putin’s response In a message published by the Kremlin By saying that his country, which, prior to launching the military operation in Ukraine on February 24, declared its nuclear forces on alert, remains faithful to the “text and spirit” of the treaty. He emphasized that there might be no “winners” in a nuclear war that should “never be unleashed.”
For his part, US President Joe Biden called on Russia and China to participate in talks aimed at limiting the spread of nuclear weapons, noting that Moscow in particular should be responsible following its invasion of Ukraine.
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which signatories assess its good implementation every five years, aims to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament and promote cooperation for the peaceful use of nuclear energy.
However, during the last conference to consider the treaty in 2015, the parties were unable to reach agreement on the core issues.