‘ERA OF NUCLEAR BLACKMAIL MUST END’ -UN CHIEF GUTERRES

Mon 26 September 2022:

Earlier today, UN Secretary-General António Guterres spoke at an event commemorating the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which was held on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly’s 77th session.

Guterres reiterated his calls for the abolishment of global nuclear weapons as the threat arises once again amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine. During his address, he cited history and recalled how the Cold war had brought humanity “within minutes of annihilation”. However, decades after it ended with the fall of the Berlin wall “we can hear once again the rattling of nuclear sabres,” said the UN chief. 

“Nuclear weapons are the most destructive power ever created. They offer no security – just carnage and chaos. Their elimination would be the greatest gift we could bestow on future generations,” Guterres said while addressing world leaders and foreign ministers present in the Trusteeship Council at the UN Headquarters in New York. 

He added, “The idea that any country could fight and win a nuclear war is deranged. Any use of a nuclear weapon would incite a humanitarian Armageddon. We need to step back.”