Former UN chief says risks of nuclear conflict 'are higher'
UNITED NATIONS — Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon warned Wednesday that the risks of nuclear conflict "are higher than they have been in several decades" and said it is past time for the five nuclear powers to take steps toward disarmament.
Ban told the Security Council the failure of the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France to make progress on disarmament risks undermining the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the world's single most important pact on nuclear arms.
The treaty is credited with preventing the spread of nuclear weapons to dozens of nations since entering into force in 1970 and it has succeeded in doing this via a grand global bargain. Under the treaty, nations without nuclear weapons committed not to acquire them, those with nuclear weapons committed to move toward their elimination, and all nations endorsed everyone's right to develop peaceful uses of nuclear energy.
Treaty members include every nation but India, Pakistan and North Korea, all of which possess nuclear weapons, as well as Israel, which is believed to be a nuclear power but has never acknowledged it.
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