WASHINGTON
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres issued a dire warning on Monday, saying raging conflicts worldwide have put the world at just one misunderstanding away from nuclear war.
Addressing the General Assembly as the UN holds a two-year delayed review of the historic Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), Guterres said geopolitical tensions “are reaching new highs” as states seek “false security” by stockpiling nuclear arms with over 13,000 doomsday weapons now held in arsenals worldwide.
“The clouds that parted following the end of the Cold War are gathering once more. We have been extraordinarily lucky so far, but luck is not a strategy nor is it a shield from geopolitical tensions boiling over into nuclear conflict,” he said. “Today, humanity is just one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.”
The UN chief pointed to simmering tensions in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula, as well as “the invasion of Ukraine by Russia,” during which the Kremlin has repeatedly engaged in nuclear sabre-rattling.
Monday marks the start of a month-long NPT review, during which states are seeking to reach a consensus on how to further mitigate nuclear proliferation, though expectations are low that they can reach consensus.
Nearly all countries worldwide are signatories to the NPT, which seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and technology. Only five nations — India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, and South Sudan — have declined to sign on or have withdrawn from the pact.
Guterres said the conference is ” an opportunity to hammer out the measures that will help avoid certain disasters, and to put humanity on a new path towards a world free of nuclear weapons.”
“It is also a chance to strengthen this treaty, and make it fit for the worrying world around us,” he said.
