Summary:
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I, therefore, urge the urgent convening of a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, and other significant nations under the auspices of the UN in order to come to an understanding regarding the cessation of hostilities.
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In addition to urging an early end to the Ukraine crisis, I want to emphasise how crucial it is to take action to stop the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in both this crisis and all future conflicts.
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I believe it is crucial that the nuclear-weapon states take action to reduce nuclear risks in order to prevent situations from arising—now or in the future—where the prospect of using nuclear weapons looms.
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With this in mind, I urged the five nuclear-weapon states to make prompt and unambiguous commitments that they would never be the first to launch a nuclear attack—the concept of “No First Use”—in a statement I delivered to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in July of last year.
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The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the United States and the Soviet Union are one instance of this.
There is currently no indication that the Ukraine crisis, which started in February of last year, will end. Many civilians, including many children and women, are forced to live in constant danger as a result of the escalating hostilities, which have severely damaged infrastructure and caused great suffering in population centres.
Nothing is more heinous or miserable than war, as the history of the twentieth century, which saw the horrors brought about by two major wars, should have taught us.
When I was in my teen years, Tokyo was firebombed during World War II. I can still clearly recall being separated from family members as we frantically fled through a sea of flames, and finding out the next day that they were okay.
How many people have been affected by the ongoing crisis in terms of loss of life or loss of employment, as well as sudden and irreversible changes to their own and their families way of life?
Significant effects on numerous other nations include restricted food supplies, sharply rising energy prices, and jarring financial markets.
It is imperative that we make progress in order to stop the situation from getting worse for everyone around the world, not to mention the Ukrainian people who are forced to live with insufficient and unpredictable electricity supplies while the winter gets colder and the military conflict gets more intense.
I, therefore, urge the urgent convening of a meeting of the foreign ministers of Russia, Ukraine, and other significant nations under the auspices of the UN in order to come to an understanding regarding the cessation of hostilities. In order to find a way to bring peace back, I also urge that serious discussions be held in preparation for a summit that would bring the leaders of all parties involved together.
In addition to urging an early end to the Ukraine crisis, I want to emphasise how crucial it is to take action to stop the use or threat of use of nuclear weapons in both this crisis and all future conflicts.
The threat of the actual use of nuclear weapons has increased along with the rhetoric surrounding them, reaching its highest point since the end of the Cold War. Even if no one wants nuclear war, the reality is that there is a significantly increased risk of nuclear weapons being accidentally used as a result of a data error, an unexpected accident, or confusion brought on by a cyberattack.
I believe it is crucial that the nuclear-weapon states take action to reduce nuclear risks in order to prevent situations from arising—now or in the future—where the prospect of using nuclear weapons looms. This is in addition to lowering tensions with the aim of resolving the Ukraine crisis. With this in mind, I urged the five nuclear-weapon states to make prompt and unambiguous commitments that they would never be the first to launch a nuclear attack—the concept of “No First Use”—in a statement I delivered to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference in July of last year.
Unfortunately, there was no agreement on a final document at the NPT Review Conference in August. However, this in no way implies that the duties regarding nuclear disarmament outlined in Article VI of the treaty no longer apply. As the various draughts of the final document show, there was broad support for nuclear risk reduction measures like the extension of negative security assurances and the adoption of No First Use policies, which require nuclear-weapon states to commit never to use their weapons against nations that do not have them.
Nuclear-weapon states can sign the No First Use Pledge while still maintaining their current nuclear arsenals. However, this does not mean that the approximately 13,000 nuclear warheads now deployed across the world would immediately cease to pose a threat. What I want to emphasise is that, should this strategy become widespread among nuclear-armed powers, it will open the door to reducing the atmosphere of mistrust. As a result, the world may be able to alter its direction, moving away from a nuclear buildup based on deterrence and toward nuclear disarmament to prevent a global disaster.
Looking back, a string of seemingly unresolvable crises that shook the world and sent shockwaves of unease and dread was what best characterised the state of affairs during the Cold War era. Nevertheless, humanity developed escape plans and survived.
The Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) between the United States and the Soviet Union are one instance of this. On the day of the NPT’s 1968 signing ceremony, which had been negotiated in response to the painful lessons of the Cuban Missile Crisis, it was announced that these would be held. Based on their commitments to nuclear disarmament under Article VI of the NPT, the US and the USSR’s first efforts to halt the nuclear weapons race were the SALT negotiations.
It couldn’t have been simple for those involved in these negotiations to place restrictions on the nuclear policy that had been designed as the sole prerogative of the state. Nevertheless, making this choice was crucial for the survival of all people as well as the citizens of their individual countries.
The people of that era had extraordinary powers of imagination and creativity as a result of having firsthand experience with the dread of being on the verge of nuclear war. The moment has come for all nations and peoples to unite in order to reawaken our creative potential and usher in a new era in human history.
