New York, September 26 (QNA) - UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres called for the elimination of nuclear weapons from the world forever, because a peaceful future depends on ending the nuclear threat.
Guterres issued his call in a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on Tuesday.
Geopolitical mistrust and competition have spiked the nuclear risk to Cold War levels. Meanwhile, hard-won progress over many decades to prevent the use, spread and testing of nuclear weapons is being undone, the UN chief said.
He stressed on the United Nations' commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons and the humanitarian catastrophe their use would unleash.
This means nuclear-weapon States leading the way by meeting their disarmament obligations, and committing to never use nuclear weapons under any circumstances, he added.
He called on all countries that have not yet ratified the Comprehensive-Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty to do so without delay, and for those States that possess nuclear weapons to ensure a moratorium on all nuclear testing.
"The only way to eliminate the nuclear risk is to eliminate nuclear weapons," said Antonio Guterres urging countries to work together to banish these "devices of destruction to the history books, once and for all". (QNA)