Guterres expresses urgency about nuclear abolition

The United Nations Secretary-General has expressed a strong sense of crisis amid the lack of progress in global efforts toward nuclear disarmament.

On Tuesday, Antonio Guterres spoke at the plenary meeting of the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, which was held at the UN headquarters in New York.

He said, "We meet at the most dangerous nuclear moment since the end of the Cold War." He added that nuclear arsenals are being expanded and modernized.

Guterres noted that a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and Russia expired in February of this year.

He also said that in May a review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons was unable to reach a consensus on a substantive outcome.

He described those setbacks as "not simply diplomatic disappointments," but "warning signals."

He urged nuclear powers to "return to dialogue to prevent any use of a nuclear weapon."

Japanese Ambassador to the United Nations, Yamazaki Kazuyuki, spoke about Japan's commitment to the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, or CTBT, and to its early entry into force.

Yamazaki also noted that Japan will expand efforts to pass on to future generations the lessons it learned from its experiences in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Representatives from China, India and Pakistan were among the attendees from countries that possess nuclear weapons. China is believed to be rapidly building up its nuclear capabilities.

The country's representative justified Beijing's nuclear armament by saying that it is "an indispensable force in deterring nuclear warfare and safeguarding world peace and security and global strategic stability."