UN Chief Says Humanity Is Just One Miscalculation Away from ‘Nuclear Annihilation’

On Monday, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that “humanity is just one misunderstanding, one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation.”

Guterres made the warning at a conference of countries that are signatories to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which entered into force in 1970. The UN chief said the war in Ukraine and global tensions have put the world in “a time of nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War.”

Russian President Vladimir Putin addressed the NPT conference participants in a letter where he warned nuclear war must never happen. “We proceed from the fact that there can be no winners in a nuclear war and it should never be unleashed, and we stand for equal and indivisible security for all members of the world community,” the Russian leader said.

It’s widely believed that a direct confrontation between the US and Russia could quickly spiral into nuclear war. The chances of such a conflict are heightened as the US and its NATO allies are funding a war in Ukraine on Russia’s border and are shipping billions of dollars worth of weapons into the war zone.

Besides supporting a war against Russia, the US is also raising tensions with China by challenging Beijing on the Taiwan issue. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is visiting Asia this week and is expected to make a stop in Taiwan, which China would view as a major provocation.

Last week, British National Security Advisor Stephen Lovegrove warned that the risk of nuclear war was higher today than during the Cold War due to the lack of communication the West has with Russia and China.