Newsman: UN Secretary-General António Guterres said nuclear war is “back within the realm of possibility.” while addressing media on Monday in New York Guterres told reporters “Raising the alert of Russian nuclear forces is a bone-chilling development,”and repeated his call for an immediate cessation of hostilities as Russia gave new orders to its nuclear forces as the war on Ukraine drag on,Guterres said. The United State officials have said they have seen no reason so far to change Washington’s nuclear alert levels. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last week that Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons is a “bluff.”
Guterres said he’s been in contact with a handful of countries in an attempt to mediate the ongoing war such as China, France, Germany, and Israel.
“The appeals for peace must be heard,” Guterres said. “It’s never too late for diplomacy and dialogue.”
UN Secretary-General said,”The prospect of nuclear conflict, once unthinkable, is now back within the realm of possibility.
He added: “It’s time to stop the horror unleashed on the people of Ukraine, and get on the path of diplomacy and peace.”
Guterres has also called for the preservation of the security and safety of nuclear facilities after a fire at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe’s biggest of its kind that broke out during a takeover of the plant by Russian forces.
“It is time to stop the horror unleashed on the people of Ukraine and get on the path of diplomacy and peace,” Guterres said.
He also said the U.N. was going to allocate a further $40 million from its Central Emergency Response fund to ramp up humanitarian assistance for Ukraine.
“This funding will help get critical supplies of food, water, medicines and other lifesaving aid into the country as well as provide cash assistance,” Guterres said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine that began on Feb. 24 has so far sent more than 2.8 million people fleeing across Ukraine’s borders and trapped hundreds of thousands in besieged cities while triggering broad Western sanctions on Russia
A few days after Russian forces invaded Ukraine in late February, President Vladimir Putin ordered his country’s nuclear deterrent forces on high alert. Putin blamed his move on NATO and economic sanctions imposed by Western countries.
Russia and the United States have by far the biggest arsenals of nuclear warheads after the Cold War that divided the world for much of the 20th century, pitting the West against the Soviet Union and its allies.
