“A worrying arms race is brewing. The number of nuclear weapons could increase for the first time in decades,” denounced Antonio Guterres on Tuesday.
“It’s urgent.” The Secretary General of the UN, Antonio Guterres, denounced on Tuesday September 26 the “pure madness” of a news “arms race” nuclear weapons, while North Korea warned of a Korean peninsula “on the brink of nuclear war”.
“I am committed (…) to doing everything in my power to mobilize countries around the need to remove these destructive devices from the face of the earth”declared Antonio Guterres on the last day of the high-level session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York. “A worrying arms race is brewing. The number of nuclear weapons could increase for the first time in decades”he denounced, regretting that “the global architecture of disarmament and non-proliferation is falling apart”.
“These weapons are becoming faster, more precise and more stealthy. Once again, the threat of the use of nuclear weapons is being brandished. This is pure madness. We must turn the tide.”
Antonio Guterresat the UN
In this context, the UN Secretary General called on the nuclear powers to “show the way” by committing not to “never, under any circumstances, use nuclear weapons”. His remarks, on the occasion of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, come at a time when the Russian invasion of Ukraine has awakened fears of the use of atomic weapons.
Pyongyang speaks of a peninsula “on the brink of nuclear war”
Certain parts of the world worry the international community, particularly Iran. The country denies wanting to obtain nuclear weapons, but its stocks of enriched uranium have exceeded the levels authorized by the 2015 agreement on Iranian civilian nuclear power.
Another source of concern is North Korea, which warned on Tuesday at the UN that the Korean peninsula was “on the brink of nuclear war”. Pyongyang, through its UN ambassador Kim Song, castigated the actions “reckless” And “the continued hysteria of the United States and its allies in terms of nuclear confrontation.” “The responsibility also lies” to South Korea, which “seeks to impose the scourge of nuclear war”, the ambassador said.