UNITED NATIONS: The United Nations chief warned the world Monday that 鈥渉umanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation,鈥� citing the war in Ukraine, nuclear threats in Asia and the Middle East and many other factors.
Secretary-General Antonio Guterres gave the dire warning at the opening of the long-delayed high-level meeting to review the landmark 50-year-old treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear weapons and eventually achieving a nuclear-free world.
The danger of increasing nuclear threats and a nuclear catastrophe was also raised by the United States, Japan, Germany, the UN nuclear chief and many other opening speakers at the meeting to review progress and agree to future steps to implement the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, known as the NPT.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said North Korea is preparing to conduct its seventh nuclear test, Iran 鈥渉as either been unwilling or unable鈥� to accept a deal to return to the 2015 nuclear agreement aimed at reining in its nuclear program, and Russia is 鈥渆ngaged in reckless, dangerous nuclear saber-rattling鈥� in Ukraine.
He cited Russian President Vladimir Putin鈥檚 warning after its Feb. 24 invasion that any attempt to interfere would lead to 鈥渃onsequences you have never seen,鈥� emphasizing that his country is 鈥渙ne of the most potent nuclear powers.鈥�
This is contrary to assurances given to Ukraine of its sovereignty and independence when in gave up its Soviet-era nuclear weapons in 1994, Blinken said, and sends 鈥渢he worst possible message鈥� to any country thinking it needs nuclear weapons to defend itself and deter aggression.
Japan鈥檚 Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said divisions in the world since the last review conference in 2015, which ended without a consensus document, have become greater, stressing that Russia鈥檚 threat to use nuclear weapons in the Ukraine war has contributed 鈥渢o worldwide concern that yet another catastrophe by nuclear weapon use is a real possibility.鈥�
Germany鈥檚 Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock accused Russia of 鈥渂rutally violating the assurances鈥� it gave Ukraine in 1994 and said Moscow鈥檚 鈥渞eckless nuclear rhetoric鈥� since its invasion of its smaller neighbor 鈥渋s putting at risk everything the NPT has achieved in five decades.鈥�
Most recently, Blinken said Russia seized Europe鈥檚 largest nuclear power plant in Zaporizhzhya and is using it as a military base to fire at Ukrainians, 鈥渒nowing that they can鈥檛 and won鈥檛 shoot back because they might accidentally strike a nuclear reactor or highly radioactive waste in storage.鈥� He said this brings the notion of having 鈥渁 human shield to an entirely different and horrific level.鈥�
International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Rafael Grossi said the Ukraine conflict is 鈥渟o grave that the specter of a potential nuclear confrontation, or accident, has raised its terrifying head again.鈥�
He warned that at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear plant 鈥渢he situation is becoming more perilous by the day,鈥� and he urged all countries to help make possible his visit to the plant with a team of IAEA safety and security experts, saying his efforts for the past two months have been unsuccessful.
Guterres told many ministers, officials and diplomats gathered in the General Assembly Hall that the month-long review conference is taking place 鈥渁t a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War.鈥�
The conference is 鈥渁n opportunity to hammer out the measures that will help avoid certain disaster, and to put humanity on a new path toward a world free of nuclear weapons,鈥� the secretary-general said.
But Guterres warned that 鈥済eopolitical weapons are reaching new highs,鈥� almost 13,000 nuclear weapons are in arsenals around the world, and countries seeking 鈥渇alse security鈥� are spending hundreds of billions of dollars on 鈥渄oomsday weapons.鈥�
鈥淎ll this at a time when the risks of proliferation are growing and guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening,鈥� he said, 鈥淎nd when crises 鈥� with nuclear undertones 鈥� are festering from the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula to the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, and to many other factors around the world.鈥�
Guterres called on conference participants to take several actions: urgently reinforce and reaffirm 鈥渢he 77-year-old norm against the use of nuclear weapons,鈥� work relentlessly toward eliminating nuclear weapons with new commitments to reduce arsenals, address 鈥渢he simmering tensions in the Middle Est and Asia鈥� and promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology.
鈥淔uture generations are counting on your commitment to step back from the abyss,鈥� he implored the ministers and diplomats. 鈥淭his is our moment to meet this fundamental test and lift the cloud of nuclear annihilation once and for all.鈥�
Japan鈥檚 Kishida, recalling his home city of Hiroshima where the first atomic bomb was dropped in August 1945, echoed many of Guterres鈥� points saying the path to a world without nuclear weapons has become harder but 鈥済iving up is not an option.鈥�
In force since 1970, the Nonproliferation Treaty known as the NPT has the widest adherence of any arms control agreement, with some 191 countries that are members.
Under its provisions, the five original nuclear powers 鈥� the United States, China, Russia (then the Soviet Union), Britain and France 鈥� agreed to negotiate toward eliminating their arsenals someday and nations without nuclear weapons promised not to acquire them in exchange for a guarantee to be able to develop nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
India and Pakistan, which didn鈥檛 join the NPT, went on to get the bomb. So did North Korea, which ratified the pact but later announced it was withdrawing. Non-signatory Israel is believed to have a nuclear arsenal but neither confirms nor denies it. Nonetheless, the treaty has been credited with limiting the number of nuclear newcomers (US President John F. Kennedy once foresaw as many as 20 nuclear-armed nations) as a framework for international cooperation on disarmament.
The meeting, which ends Aug. 26, aims to generate a consensus on next steps, but expectations are low for a substantial 鈥� if any 鈥� agreement. There were 133 speakers as of Monday, plus dozens of side events.
The NPT鈥檚 five-year review was supposed to take place in 2020, when the world already faced plenty of crisis, but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Patricia Lewis, former director of the UN Institute for Disarmament Research who is now in charge of international security programs at the international affairs think tank Chatham House in London, said 鈥淧resident Putin鈥檚 threats to use nuclear weapons have shocked the international community.鈥�
Russia is not only an NPT signatory but a depository for treaty ratifications and in January it joined the four other nuclear powers in reiterating the statement by former US President Ronald Reagan and former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that 鈥渁 nuclear war can never be won and must never be fought,鈥� she told The Associated Press.
Lewis said countries participating in the review conference will have a difficult decision to make.
To support the treaty and what it stands for, 鈥済overnments will have to address Russia鈥檚 behavior and threats,鈥� she said. 鈥淥n the other hand, to do so risks dividing the treaty members 鈥� some of whom have been persuaded by Russia鈥檚 propaganda or at least are not as concerned, for example, as the NATO states.鈥�
And 鈥淩ussia no doubt will strenuously object to being named in statements and any outcome documents,鈥� Lewis said.