World one step from 'nuclear annihilation', says UN chief

António Guterres Vladimir Putin Antony Blinken Usa Japan Germany North Korea France Russia Ukraine Climate change United Nations Research Tourism

02.08.2022 - 09:49

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euronews.com:

The head of the United Nations (UN) has warned that the world is one step away from "nuclear annihilation" and faces dangers not seen since the Cold War.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that “humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” over the war in Ukraine, alongside other nuclear threats around the world.

He made the comments during a conference on the decades-old Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT), which seeks to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and eventually achieve a nuclear-free world.

In his opening address, Guterres said the pandemic-delayed meeting, which aims to review the landmark agreement, was taking place amid "nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War.”

The conference is “an opportunity to hammer out the measures that will help avoid certain disaster, and to put humanity on a new path towards a world free of nuclear weapons,” he said.

“The risks of proliferation are growing and guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening,” Guterres added, pointing out that "crises -- with nuclear undertones -- are festering from the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula."

The threat of nuclear catastrophe was also raised by the United States (US), Japan, Germany, the UN nuclear chief and many other speakers.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken claimed Russia, which did not address the conference in its scheduled slot, is “engaged in reckless, dangerous nuclear sabre-rattling” in Ukraine.

He cited Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning that any intervention in the conflict could have “consequences you have never seen" and that his country is a “potent nuclear power.”

Blinken also highlighted the dangers posed by North Korea's