During a meeting of the Security Council, focused on the non-proliferation of these devices, the high representative assured that this weapon is the most destructive ever invented, capable of eliminating all life on Earth.

“Today, these weapons are increasing in power, range and stealth,” he further warned.

The meeting, he said, comes as geopolitical tensions and mistrust raise the risk of nuclear war to its highest point in decades.

The minister welcomed Japan’s call for the session, while recalling that this Asian country knows better than any other “the brutal cost of nuclear slaughter.”

Disarmament, he added, is the only way to “defeat this suicidal and senseless shadow, once and for all.”

However, Guterres warned, states that possess nuclear weapons are absent from the dialogue table, while investments in tools of war exceed those destined for peace.

The head of the organization urged countries that possess nuclear weapons to resume a dialogue to develop transparency and confidence-building measures to prevent any use.

Additionally, he called for ending threats in any capacity, as well as reaffirming the moratorium on nuclear testing, including committing to avoiding actions that undermine the 1996 Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.

The Secretary General also considered necessary a joint first use agreement and a reduction in the number of nuclear weapons.

For her part, Japanese Foreign Minister Yoko Kamikawa called for progress in realistic and practical efforts towards a world without nuclear weapons, despite divisions.

A rapid increase in nuclear capabilities by certain countries could trigger a nuclear arms race, she said, calling for the threat of another Hiroshima or Nagasaki to be eliminated.

ef/npg/ebr