Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – UN Secretary-General António Guterres called for countries to recommit to eliminating nuclear weapons in his message to mark the 78th anniversary of the atomic bombing of the Japanese city of Nagasaki, observed on Wednesday.
“We mourn those killed, whose memory will never fade. We remember the terrible destruction wrought upon this city and Hiroshima. We honour the unrelenting strength and resilience of the people of Nagasaki to rebuild,” he said.
Yet despite the terrible lessons of 1945, humanity is now facing a new arms race as nuclear weapons are being used as tools of coercion, he noted.
He said weapons systems are being upgraded, and placed at the centre of national security strategies, making these devices of death faster, more accurate, and stealthier at a time of division and mistrust among countries and regions.
“The risk of nuclear catastrophe is now at its highest level since the Cold War,” he warned.
“In the face of these threats, the global community must speak as one. Any use of nuclear weapons is unacceptable. We will not sit idly by as nuclear-armed States race to create even more dangerous weapons.”
“Pending their total elimination, States possessing nuclear weapons must commit to never use them. The only way to eliminate the nuclear risk is to eliminate nuclear weapons,” he said.
