United Nations chief Antonio Guterres on Monday asked nuclear armed countries to stick to their no-first-use pledge and never use atomic weapons, believing solemn promises made to the globalist organization will avert the prospect of a global nuclear war.
“This is the moment … to ask the nuclear-armed countries to commit to the principle of non-first-use and to commit to not use and not threaten the non-nuclear countries,” Guterres said at a news conference in Tokyo.
AP reports he was addressing the world two days after he visited Hiroshima to commemorate victims of the Aug. 6, 1945, atomic bombing that brought the war in the Pacific to a dramatic close.
“I think that nobody, nobody can accept the idea that a new nuclear war would happen. This will be the destruction of the planet,” Guterres said. “What is clear is if nobody uses for the first time then there will be no nuclear war.”
Fears of a third atomic bombing have been widespread since Russia marched into Ukraine back in February.
Guterres despaired after decades of nuclear disarmament efforts, the world is now “moving backwards,” noting some 13,000 nuclear bombs are spread in arsenals and huge investment going into modernization of the controversial – and deadly – weapon systems. “So this is the time to say: Stop it.”
Guterres said the amount of money being pressed into nuclear weaponry would be best served helping humanity in this age of crisis, according to the AP report.
“The billions that are being used in this arms race need to be used to fighting climate change, fighting poverty, addressing the needs of the international community,” he said.
Guterres will now head to Mongolia and South Korea to discuss ways to address North Korea’s nuclear development.