Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said crises “with nuclear tones are being triggered,” citing the Middle East, North Korea and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. It comes as America has accused Russia of using Ukraine’s largest nuclear power plant, which it seized early in the war, as a “nuclear shield” during its attacks. Image: A Russian soldier at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. Photo: AP US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said Washington was “deeply concerned” that Moscow was now using the Zaporizhia plant as a military base and firing on Ukrainian troops from around it. He said: “The Ukrainians cannot detonate lest there be a terrible accident with the nuclear plant.” Meanwhile, Mr Guterres said “geopolitical weapons are reaching new highs”, nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons are in arsenals worldwide and countries seeking “false security” are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on “doomsday weapons”. He said: “All this at a time when proliferation risks are rising and guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening.” Mr Guterres spoke of the need to address “simmering tensions” in the Middle East and Asia. “Adding the threat of nuclear weapons to ongoing conflicts, these regions are headed for disaster. We must redouble our support for dialogue and negotiation,” he continued. He said today that humanity was “just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.” He was speaking at the United Nations to revise the landmark Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), which came into force in 1970, with the aim of preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and ultimately achieving a nuclear-free world. He told ministers, officials and diplomats in New York that the month-long conference was being held “at a critical juncture for our collective peace and security” and “at a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War.” Read more: North Korea launches suspected intercontinental ballistic missile and two other missiles, Seoul says Image: North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “The world is concerned that the threat of the destruction of the use of nuclear weapons has emerged once again,” he told the gathering, and “the road to a world without nuclear weapons has suddenly become even more difficult.” Which nations have nuclear weapons? Under the NPT, the five original nuclear powers – the US, China, Russia (then the Soviet Union), the UK and France – agreed to negotiate to eventually eliminate their arsenals. And nations without nuclear weapons promised not to acquire them in exchange for a guarantee that they would be able to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. It has the widest adherence of any other arms control agreement, with 191 countries as members. India and Pakistan, which did not join the NPT, continued to have nuclear weapons programs, as did North Korea, which ratified the pact but later announced it was withdrawing. Israel, which is not a signatory, is believed to have nuclear weapons, but has not confirmed or denied this. Image: US Secretary of State Antony Blinken addresses the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference in New York The New York meeting is “an opportunity to take steps to help avert certain disasters and put humanity on a new path towards a world without nuclear weapons,” Mr Guterres said. He called on nations to strengthen and reaffirm “the 77-year-old rule against the use of nuclear weapons.” to work relentlessly to eliminate nuclear weapons with new commitments to reduce arsenals; and to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology. “Future generations rely on your commitment to walk away from the abyss,” Mr Guterres said. “This is our moment to meet this fundamental test and lift the cloud of nuclear annihilation once and for all.” Days after Russia’s February 24 invasion, President Vladimir Putin put his country’s deterrents – which include nuclear weapons – on high alert, citing aggressive statements by NATO leaders and Western economic sanctions against Moscow. But in a letter to those attending the conference, Mr Putin wrote: “There can be no winners in a nuclear war and it must never be launched, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community.”
