UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez on Monday warned of the "collapse" of the international arms control system, calling on Russia and the United States to maintain a nuclear treaty that is very important in this area.
Gutierrez used a speech at a UN disarmament conference in Geneva to warn that one of the cornerstones of the diplomatic achievements of the past 50 years, arms control, is "very dangerous".
"I will be frank: core components of the global arms control system are collapsing," he said.
The United States began its withdrawal from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NRF) in response to Moscow´s deployment of its new M-729 ground-based missile system, prompting Russia to announce a similar move.
"Simply put, we can not return to the open nuclear competition that we witnessed in the worst days of the Cold War," Guterich said.
"I invite the parties to the INFF + Treaty to use the remaining time to engage in honest dialogue on the many issues that have been raised," he said, adding that "the preservation of this treaty is very important."
The collapse of the 1987 treaty, which banned land-based missiles with a range of 500 to 5,000 km, raised fears of a new arms race in Europe.
The US withdrawal will not take effect before August, giving six months to salvage the treaty. But there is little hope for the possibility of this happening at a time when NATO warned that the world must prepare for the scenario of its abolition.
