Guterrez leans on Japan's moral authority, urges strong commitments at nonproliferation review

Secretary-General Gutierrez told reporters he had attended peace ceremonies in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and paid tribute to atomic-bomb survivors, describing Japan as having "an enormous moral authority in matters of disarmament and nonproliferation."

Asked about the review conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, Gutierrez said the objective was to ensure the review effectively reaffirms nonproliferation commitments. He warned that nuclear arsenals are being increased or modernized and said "nonproliferation is at risk," calling for both nonproliferation and "progressive disarmament" as two complementary goals.

Gutierrez framed disarmament and nonproliferation as linked priorities: preventing the spread of nuclear weapons while pursuing reductions in existing arsenals. He said the international community must prevent a world in which the possibility of more countries acquiring nuclear weapons is multiplied, calling that outcome "an extremely dangerous world."