UN secretary general warns of possibility of nuclear war amid Russian invasion
The UN secretary-general warned on Monday that the Russia-Ukraine crisis could escalate into nuclear war.
“The raising of the alert level of Russian nuclear forces is a frightening development,” António Guterres told reporters on Monday, Reuters first reported. “The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility.”
António Guterres called for negotiation and reconciliation, noting the fallout suffered by Ukrainian civilians as a result of the Russian invasion.
“It is time to stop the horror unleashed on the Ukrainian people and embark on the path of diplomacy and peace,” he said. “Calls for peace must be heard. This tragedy must end.
Amid recent Russian attacks around nuclear power plants in Ukraine, such as the training center outside the perimeter of the Zaporizhzhia plant in eastern Ukraine which caught fire due to cross-fighting, Guterres said demanded the protection of Ukrainian nuclear facilities. The UN is spending $40 million from its central emergency response fund for humanitarian aid to Ukrainians, he added.
“This funding will help bring essential supplies of food, water, medicine and other life-saving aid into the country, as well as provide cash assistance,” said António Guterres.
Four days after Russia began its air, naval and ground assault on Ukraine, Russian President Vladimir Putin put his nuclear deterrent forces on ‘high alert’ for a ‘special regime of combat duty’ , which he said met what he claimed. was NATO aggression.
Last February, the United States renewed the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, or New START, the nuclear arms control agreement with Russia, for another five years. The bilateral treaty included both reductions in national pledges and limitations on strategic defense weapons, particularly nuclear warheads and land and submarine missiles and military aircraft designed to carry them.
Last month, reporters pressed President Biden on whether Americans should worry about the possibility of nuclear conflict, to which he replied, “No.”
White House press secretary Jen Psaki had criticized Putin’s antagonistic rhetoric on nuclear weapons, saying: “Neither the United States nor NATO has the slightest desire or intention to enter in conflict with Russia. We believe that provocative rhetoric like this regarding nuclear weapons is dangerous, adds to the risk of miscalculation, should be avoided, and we will not engage in it.