United Nations, Feb 28 (PTI) Russian nuclear forces being put on high alert is a “chilling development” and the mere idea of a nuclear conflict is simply inconceivable, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said on Monday, voicing hope that direct talks between Ukraine and Russia will produce an immediate halt to the fighting.
“The fighting in Ukraine must stop. It is raging across the country, from air, land and sea. It must stop now,” Guterres told a rare emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on Ukraine.
A day after the 15-nation UN Security Council voted to refer the Russia-Ukraine crisis to an emergency session of the General Assembly, the most representative body of the United Nations convened the rare emergency session on Russia’s aggression against Ukraine.
President of the 76th session of the General Assembly Abdulla Shahid presided over the unprecedented session, only the 11th such emergency session of the General Assembly since 1950. With the adoption of the UNSC resolution on Sunday, it was for the first time in 40 years that the Council decided to call for an emergency special session in the General Assembly.
Escalating tensions, Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his nuclear forces be put on high alert, a development that drastically raised fears and concerns the crisis could lead to a nuclear war.
“We are facing a tragedy for Ukraine, but also a major regional crisis with potentially disastrous implications for us all. Yesterday, Russian nuclear forces were put on high alert. This is a chilling development,” Guterres said.
“The mere idea of a nuclear conflict is simply inconceivable. Nothing can justify the use of nuclear weapons,” he said. PTI YAS ZH AKJ ZH ZH
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