Opening a key conference on the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in New York, Guterres warned that the world was facing “a nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War”. Citing Russia’s war with Ukraine and tensions on the Korean peninsula and in the Middle East, Guterres said he feared “nuclear-tinged” crises could escalate. “Today, humanity is only one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,” Guterres said at the 10th review conference of the NPT, an international treaty that came into force in 1970 to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons. “We’ve been extremely lucky so far. But luck is not strategy. Nor is it a shield from geopolitical tensions that culminate in nuclear conflict,” he added, calling on nations to “set humanity on a new path toward a world without nuclear weapons.” The meeting, held at UN headquarters in New York, has been postponed several times since 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Guterres said the conference was “an opportunity to strengthen” the treaty and “make it fit for the troubled world around us.” “The elimination of nuclear weapons is the only guarantee that they will never be used,” the secretary-general said, adding that he would visit Hiroshima on the anniversary of the August 6, 1945, US atomic bombing of the Japanese city. “Nearly 13,000 nuclear weapons are now in arsenals around the world. All this at a time when proliferation risks are rising and guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening,” Guterres added. In January, the five permanent members of the UN Security Council – the US, China, Russia, Britain and France – pledged to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons. On Monday, the US, Britain and France reaffirmed their commitment in a joint statement, saying “a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought”. The three also took aim at Russia – which announced it had put its nuclear forces on alert shortly after its February 24 invasion of Ukraine – and urged Moscow to respect its international commitments under the NPT. “Following Russia’s unprovoked and illegal war of aggression against Ukraine, we call on Russia to stop its irresponsible and dangerous nuclear rhetoric and behavior,” they said. President Vladimir Putin insisted that Russia remained true to the “letter and spirit” of the treaty and that there could be no “winner” in a nuclear war, according to the Kremlin. While much of the talk focused on Russia, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also denounced North Korea, which “continues to expand its illegal nuclear program” and Iran, which “remains on a nuclear escalation trajectory… And so we come together at a critical moment,” he said. Earlier, in a statement, Joe Biden called on Russia and China to start talks on nuclear arms control. The US president reiterated that his administration was ready to “quickly negotiate” a replacement for New Start, the treaty limiting the intercontinental nuclear forces of the United States and Russia, which is due to expire in 2026. The NPT, which the 191 signatories review every five years, aims to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons, promote complete disarmament and promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. At the last review conference in 2015, the parties were unable to reach agreement on substantive issues. “Since then, the division within the international community has only grown wider,” lamented Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida. “A path to a world without nuclear weapons has become even more difficult. However, giving up is not an option.”
