United Nations Chief Says The World Is 'One Mistake Away From Nuclear Annihilation’

The United Nations Secretary General has delivered an ominous warning of the current state of the world.

Antonio Guterres said we're edging worryingly close to nuclear oblivion and has called on nations to chill out a little.

He said we're currently at a stage of 'nuclear danger not seen since the height of the Cold War'.

The Secretary General added that we are 'one miscalculation away from nuclear annihilation'.

Well, that's lovely isn't it?

He made the comments to kick off a conference about nuclear proliferation and the countries who have signed a treaty to avoid making deadly weapons.

Allstar Picture Library Ltd / Alamy Stock Photo

"We have been extraordinarily lucky so far. But luck is not a strategy," he said. "Nor is it a shield from geopolitical tensions boiling over into nuclear conflict.

Guterres said the world needs to 'put humanity on a new path towards a world free of nuclear weapons'.

The Secretary General believes the only true way forward is if countries relinquish their control of their nuclear weapons.

"Eliminating nuclear weapons is the only guarantee they will never be used," the Secretary General said.

"Almost 13,000 nuclear weapons are now being held in arsenals around the world. All this at a time when the risks of proliferation are growing and guardrails to prevent escalation are weakening."

He said the current war between Russia and Ukraine, the ongoing tensions between North and South Korea, and the unrest continuing in the Middle East has given him a bleak vision of the future unless something changes.

Thankfully, it seems at least one player in those many games has ruled out using nuclear weapons.

Vladimir Putin says no one really wins when warheads like those are used.

Alamy

The Russian President sent a letter to the conference being attended by Antonio Guterres and iterated his country's stance against the weapons.

"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," he said, (via Reuters).

This contrasts the previous statements he's made since the war with Ukraine began back in February.

Putin ordered Russia's nuclear forces to be put on high alert after troops stormed into Ukraine and warned other countries they would suffer 'consequences that you have never encountered in your history' if they intervened.