UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres is deeply concerned about the lack of progress in achieving the goal of a nuclear-free world.
The nuclear-weapon states have been modernizing their arsenals in recent years, sparking a new arms race, the UN Secretary-General said at the ceremony in memory of the victims of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima
The decisions of Russia and the United States to extend the Treaty on Measures to Further Reduce and Limit Strategic Offensive Arms (START) are welcome first steps towards reducing the risk of nuclear catastrophe, he noted.
He urged governments to use the tenth review conference of the nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) to strengthen their commitment to a world free of nuclear weapons. The only guarantee against the use of nuclear weapons is their complete destruction, he said.