UN calls for immediate use of nuclear weapons

Izumi Nakamitsu is UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, speaking at the Austrian Center in Vienna, Austria on June 20, 2022 during the Vienna Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons. The UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Izumi Nakamitsu, said on Monday that the existential dangers posed by nuclear weapons were back in the global spotlight.

She appealed to all states in possession of nuclear weapons to commit to no-first use of any nuclear weapon as an immediate measure to save humanity from potential extinction.

Nakamitsu urged all to step back from the brink, calling for an end to the Ukraine crisis, as well as threats to nuclear safety, as well as at the general debate on the First Committee on Disarmament and International Security at the 77th session of the UN General AssemblyUN General Assembly.

The UN said that the world community was confronted by a reality war and violence that killed both soldiers and civilians as the desire for peace is drifting further away, according to Mohan Pieris, Sri Lanka's permanent representative to the UN.

He promised that the committee would work to develop a set of recommendations for the increasingly complex global security environment.

Representatives of regional and other likeminded groups expressed concern over the accelerating arms races and the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, including Suriya Chindawongse, permanent representative of Thailand.

On behalf of the Arab Group, Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Bahr Aluloom of Iraq said the presence of nuclear weapons made it impossible to establish global peace, security and stability.