UN Chief Guterres Calls for Nuclear Weapons to be Disarmed

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres wants all nuclear weapons on Earth to be defused. The Portuguese argue for this at the start of a three-day conference on the banning of nuclear weapons in Vienna.

 

“Let’s destroy all these weapons before they destroy us,” Guterres said. There are currently about 13,000 nuclear weapons in the world. “That’s a recipe for the potential destruction of the planet, given all the conflict and mutual mistrust.”

In January 2021, an alliance came into effect prohibiting countries from dealing with nuclear weapons and from considering the humanitarian consequences of their use. The treaty has been signed by 86 countries.

Nine countries in the world have nuclear weapons and none of them has signed the treaty. In history, a nuclear bomb has been used twice in a war, both times in August 1945, when the United States used the bombs to end the war with Japan.