Humanity is playing with a loaded gun - UN Secretary General on the threat of nuclear war

Antonio Guterres said this during a speech in Japan.

"Crises with serious nuclear implications are spreading rapidly - from the Middle East to the Korean peninsula and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Humanity is playing with a loaded gun," he emphasized.

He made such a call during a speech on the occasion of the 77th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima.

The UN Secretary General emphasized that new arms races are gaining momentum, world leaders are increasing stockpiles of nuclear weapons worth hundreds of billions of dollars, and now almost 13,000 units of nuclear weapons are stored in arsenals around the world.

He declared that nuclear weapons should be "erased from the face of the earth forever".

"Nuclear-weapon states must commit to 'no first use' and assure other states that they will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against them," Guterres added.