The Secretary General of the United Nations (UN), António Guterres, warned this Tuesday of a possible increase in nuclear arsenals, in a “new and worrying arms race” not seen in decades, with weapons that are “faster, more precise and stealthy.” .
At a high-level plenary meeting to promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Guterres underscored the “fundamental truth” that the only real way to prevent the use of nuclear weapons “is to eliminate them.”
“Any use of a nuclear weapon – at any time, anywhere and in any context – would trigger a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions. This is not hyperbole. This is the timeless message of the Hibakusha, the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ” he said, referring to the Japanese cities that in 1945 were the target of two American atomic bombs.
“For them – and for the world – I have promised to do everything in my power to unite countries around the need to remove these devices of destruction from the face of the earth. This is an urgent matter. A new and worrying arms race is brewing. “The number of nuclear weapons could increase for the first time in decades,” he said.
At the meeting, held at the UN headquarters in New York, the former Portuguese prime minister noted that the norms hard won over the years to prevent the use, proliferation and testing of nuclear weapons “are being undermined.” and that the global architecture of disarmament and non-proliferation is “running out.”
“Nuclear arsenals are being modernized to make these weapons faster, more precise and more stealthy. (…) We must reverse this course,” he appealed.
According to the United Nations leader, nuclear weapons states must lead the way, fulfilling their disarmament obligations and pledging never to use nuclear weapons under any circumstances.
He also called for strengthening and reaffirming commitments to the nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation regime built over decades, including the Treaties on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons and the Ban of Nuclear Weapons and the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty.
“On behalf of all victims of nuclear testing, I call on all countries that have not yet ratified the Treaty to do so without delay, and on those states possessing nuclear weapons to ensure a moratorium on all nuclear testing. “, said.
Finally, Guterres defended the redistribution of “timeless tools” such as dialogue, diplomacy and negotiation to ease tensions between States and end the nuclear threat.
“This dialogue also addressed the growing interaction between strategic weapons and conventional weapons, as well as the link between nuclear weapons and emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence,” he reinforced.
“The world has spent too much time in the shadow of nuclear weapons. Let us move away from the brink of disaster. Let us begin a new era of peace for all peoples. Let us make history by relegating nuclear weapons to history,” he concluded.
Source: TSF
