DUBLIN: The United Nations chief has warned that world is one step from “nuclear annihilation”. Citing the war in Ukraine, nuclear threats in Asia and the Middle East, Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned, “humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.”
The UN chief made the dire warning at the start of a high-level meeting to review the 50-year-old treaty intended to stop the spread of nuclear weapons and eventually lead to a nuclear-free world.
The month-long conference to review the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is attended by officials and diplomats. The meeting, which ends on August 26, is aimed at building consensus on the next steps, but there is little hope of a substantive agreement.
Guterres said there are almost 13,000 nuclear weapons in arsenals around the world, and countries seeking “false security” are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on “doomsday weapons”.
He called on conference participants to urgently strengthen and reaffirm “the 77-year-old norm against the use of nuclear weapons”. He also called for relentless work towards the elimination of nuclear weapons, with new commitments to reduce arsenals. Promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology and address “the simmering tensions in the Middle East and Asia”, he said.
The Non-Proliferation Treaty, known as the NPT, came into force in 1970. It is the largest agreement signed by 91 countries. The deal calls for the five nuclear powers – the US, China, Russia, the UK and France – to reduce their stockpiles and encourage other countries to denuclearize. The treaty guarantees that nuclear energy can be developed for peaceful purposes.