International Security Rapidly Deteriorates; General Assembly Urges Nations to Address Weaker Global Arms Treaties and Heightened Nuclear Risks
Secretary-General Highlights Expanding Nuclear Arsenals, Louder Nuclear Sabre-rattling and Potential Mistakes Due to Technological Advances
With nuclear arsenals expanding and arms control safeguards eroding worldwide, speakers today warned of mounting nuclear risks, from tensions in the Middle East and emerging technologies to the enduring consequences of nuclear testing, as the General Assembly held a high-level meeting to mark the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons.
“We meet at the most dangerous nuclear moment since the end of the cold war,” António Guterres, United Nations Secretary-General, said, pointing to expanding and modernizing nuclear arsenals, louder nuclear sabre-rattling and increased odds of mistakes due to technological advances.
Noting with concern the expiration of the New START (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) and failure of the eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons to reach consensus on a substantive outcome, he lamented: “And just when they are most needed, the safeguards built over decades to contain these dangers are breaking down.” The United Nations Disarmament Commission once again completed its three-year cycle without substantive recommendations, he added.
Underscoring that “disarmament is not a favour” but “a binding legal obligation”, he called on nuclear weapon States to return to dialogue, reduce the role of nuclear weapons in their security policies and pursue confidence-building measures that ensure transparency.
He urged the United States and Russian Federation to negotiate a successor framework to New START and stressed that it is “beyond time” to bring the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty into force. “These devices of death must never decide the fate of humanity,” he stated, calling for threats to be replaced with dialogue, arms racing with arms control and paralysis with concrete action.
For the first time since the end of the cold war, the global stockpile is expected to grow again, Khalilur Rahman, President of the General Assembly noted. “New technologies — including artificial intelligence, cyber-capabilities and advanced delivery systems — are introducing additional uncertainty into command, control and decision-making,” he cautioned.
The combination of proliferating conflicts, eroding arms-control arrangements and renewed reliance on nuclear weapons creates a perilous moment for international peace and security, he observed. “We must change course, urgently and decisively,” he stated, calling for action on four fronts — renewed dialogue and guardrails, strengthened multilateral architecture as well as the reduction and elimination of nuclear arsenals.
As the floor opened, Japan’s delegate stressed that “as the only country to have ever suffered atomic bombings during war”, his State has “a responsibility to ensure that these lessons are passed on to future generations”. It is “precisely because we find ourselves in such a difficult environment” that the international community “must have the determination to engage in sincere dialogue, build mutual trust, and seek common ground”.
Speakers Point to Regional Flashpoints, Unstable Nuclear Environment
Against the backdrop of heightened tensions in the Middle East, several speakers focused on the safety of nuclear facilities and regional non-proliferation.
“Attacks against peaceful nuclear facilities must be unequivocally condemned and rejected,” Iran’s representative stressed, recalling recent military attacks by the United States and Israel against his country, including strikes against peaceful nuclear facilities under International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards. Warning of risks of radioactive release, he stressed that his country’s peaceful nuclear programme is conducted “within its rights and obligations under the NPT (Non-proliferation Treaty) and IAEA safeguards”.
Similarly, the representative of the United Arab Emirates condemned “in the strongest words” recent drone attacks on the Barakah Nuclear Power Plant. Targeting such facilities, he said, could have consequences extending beyond national borders and “threaten the environment, safety, security of the region and the world at large”.
Several speakers, including representatives of Egypt and Burundi, speaking on behalf of the African Group, and Uganda, speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, voiced concern over the lack of a zone free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction in the Middle East. The observer for the State of Palestine stated that “Israel’s persistent exceptionalism” threatens security and is the driving force of proliferation in the region.
On disarmament, however, the representative of Ukraine recalled it was his country that, without precedent, gave up its nuclear arsenal, receiving assurances from nuclear weapon States, including the Russian Federation, out of respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty. “Tragically, all those commitments were not honoured. Many Ukrainians are convinced, today, that had our Government not given up its nuclear weapons Russia would never have dared to attack Ukraine. And perhaps they are right.” He said that trust in nuclear disarmament can only be restored if the Council forces the Russian Federation to stop its barbaric war of aggression against Ukraine.
Pakistan’s representative cited a “deeply troubling international security backdrop” with intensifying great Power rivalries, while “longstanding disputes remain unresolved”. International norms are applied selectively while nuclear-armed States pursue “hegemonic designs”. Lamenting how “domestic compulsions and reckless bravado can drive States toward confrontation with attendant nuclear dangers”, he called for cooperation, as “absent this, the world will need to prepare for an era of heightened nuclear dangers”.
Warning that nuclear rhetoric has “increased alarmingly”, the representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) noted the international community lacks an urgent, focused collective response. As the eleventh Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons ended without agreement on a final document, for a third consecutive time, she called on all States to adhere to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons without delay.
“Nuclear disarmament is nothing but political choices,” said Bangladesh’s representative, calling for a faster process “with the clear objective of achieving Global Zero”, strengthening the Non-Proliferation Treaty regime as well as reinforcing the IAEA’s role in nuclear safety, security and safeguards.
Artificial Intelligence Cited as Emerging Existential Threat
Other delegates emphasized emerging dangers posed by artificial intelligence in nuclear weapons systems
Speaking on behalf of the Arab Group, the representative of Oman warned against integrating artificial intelligence into nuclear-weapons-related systems and stressed the need to maintain “full human control” over such weapons. Voicing regret that “nuclear risk is growing more acute while garnering less attention than it should”, Ireland’s representative similarly drew a comparison with artificial intelligence as an existential threat. Calling on nuclear-armed States to fulfil their disarmament obligations — “which they are ignoring” — he emphasized that lasting security cannot be built on a foundation of mutually-assured destruction.
In a similar vein, the representative of Mexico, speaking on behalf of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL), voiced growing concern over possible military uses of AI throughout the lifecycle of nuclear weapons and urged nations to maintain “significant human control” over nuclear weapons and their delivery systems in the context of new technologies.
Consequences of Nuclear Tests Remain a “Devastating Legacy”
Several speakers from the Pacific region, Central Asia and Africa drew attention to the consequences of nuclear weapon testings.
The representative of Palau, speaking on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum and its 18 members, recalled that “for decades, parts of the Pacific were treated as a testing ground for foreign Powers”. “Although nuclear testing has ceased, its consequences remain,” he stated, pointing to transgenerational health impacts, contaminated environments and the loss of ancestral lands and livelihoods.
Between 1946 and 1996, more than 300 nuclear tests were conducted across the region, including in the Marshall Islands, in Kiribati, and in French Polynesia, observed the representative of Fiji, speaking on behalf of the Pacific Small Island Developing States. “The humanitarian impact of these weapons did not end when the testing stopped,” he said, calling for international support for victim assistance and environmental remediation.
For his part, the representative of Namibia stated that the best way to honour the victims of nuclear detonation is to ensure that such strategies are never repeated.
Sharing experiences of his country becoming nuclear free, the representative of Kazakhstan recalled that, 35 years ago, his country closed the Semipalatinsk nuclear test site, where 456 nuclear explosions had left “a devastating legacy for our people and environment”. Voicing concern over the modernization and expansion of nuclear arsenals, he called for renewed strategic dialogue among nuclear-weapon States.
Algeria’s delegate recalled that, 60 years ago, the Algerian Sahara experienced the last nuclear explosion on its soil “by the colonial Power”, suffering 57 related deaths. The nuclear waste “deep in the sand has not been completely eliminated” — with “nefarious consequences” for the health of people and repercussions for succeeding generations. He hailed the Treaty of Pelindaba as “a paragon” for African States and a model for extending that example to the Middle East.
The representative of South Africa called for action in the common interest of all States and humanity, in unity and urgency, to pursue the goal of a nuclear weapon free world.
Uruguay’s delegate, speaking on behalf of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), recalled the Treaty of Tlatelolco, a commitment which made the region a pioneer in the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone. Echoing this message, the representative of Venezuela added that the Treaty showed that another security logic is possible — security built without nuclear weapons.
Describing his country as “a responsible nuclear weapon State”, India’s delegate stated that it remains committed to maintaining “credible minimum deterrence” with a posture of no first use and non-use against non-nuclear-weapon States. Highlighting India’s commitment to disarmament education, he said his country launched a fully funded three-week annual fellowship aimed at training “the future architects of arms control and disarmament agreements”.
The representative of China urged countries possessing the largest nuclear arsenals to effectively fulfil their “special and primary” responsibilities for nuclear disarmament. China has always followed a nuclear strategy of self-defence and keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level, he stated.