Putin Downplays Nuclear War as World Leaders Reaffirm Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
UN chief warns the world is just 'one misunderstanding' away from 'nuclear annihilation' as tensions rise across the globe
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Monday urged countries to reduce their nuclear stockpiles, warning that "humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation."
"Almost 13,000 nuclear weapons are now being held in arsenals around the world. All this at a time when the risks of proliferation are growing and guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening," Guterres said at a conference in New York of countries that are party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
Putin admits ‘no winners’ in nuclear war as UN warns of risks of a ‘misunderstanding’
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Monday that a nuclear war “should never” be launched — as the head of the United Nations warned that the strongman’s Ukraine war is “one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away” from putting the world in danger of nuclear annihilation.
Putin’s comments came in a letter to participants at a UN conference to reaffirm the nuclear non-proliferation treaty that began Monday.
Biden, Putin strike conciliatory tones as nuclear arms talks start at U.N.
U.S. President Joe Biden said on Monday he is ready to pursue a new nuclear arms deal with Russia and called on Moscow to act in good faith as his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin said there could be no winners in any nuclear war.
Both leaders issued written statements as diplomats gathered for a month-long U.N. conference to review the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). It was supposed to take place in 2020 but was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic.