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Addressing the plenary session of the General Assembly to commemorate and promote the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, Guterres called for joining the ongoing efforts to eradicate these devices.
We live in an unstable international environment and this increases the possibility of misunderstandings, miscalculations and malfunctions, he noted.
In fact, Guterres added, nuclear risk has reached levels not seen in nearly four decades, and some 14,000 such weapons are in storage around the world.
Eliminating the nuclear risk means eliminating these weapons and we must all work together to achieve this goal, urged the top UN official.
This is precisely the heart of the disarmament program: the elimination of weapons of mass destruction, but also the fight against the proliferation of conventional and new technologies on the battlefield, he stressed.
Until nuclear weapons are eliminated, it is in the interest of all states to avoid any possible use, he stressed.
In 1946, in the great surge of hope and activity that followed the creation of the United Nations, the General Assembly reached its first resolution, which called for the creation of a commission to eliminate atomic devices and other nuclear weapons. massive destruction, the Portuguese diplomat recalled.
His predecessors in this House understood the fatal flaw behind the use of these weapons, that the only legacy for the victor would be a broken and barren world, he said.
This mutual mistrust could lead to destruction and even eradicate all life on the planet because, in the end, the nuclear conflict has no winners, only victims, he insisted.
However, in the decades that followed, Guterres lamented, countries ignored this cold logic and instead engaged in a dangerous competition: each expansion of nuclear weapons further erodes the bonds of trust and dialogue necessary to ensure peace, and pushes the world to the brink of disaster.
The shadow of the Cold War has haunted generations and countries have justified their actions with self-defense, but a nuclear arsenal is not self-defense, it is suicide, warned the Secretary-General of the UN Guterres.
“Today, 76 years later, we still have to meet the goals of this historic resolution.”
Nuclear weapons are not yesterday’s problem, they continue to be today’s threat, the UN chief said at the meeting that concludes the high-level segment of the 76th session of the General Assembly, which opened on September 20.
ef / omr / mgt / ifb
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