Global arms control architecture ‘collapsing,’ UN chief warns

The international arms control system is facing collapse, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres said Monday, as he urged the US and Russia to stop the imminent demise of a crucial nuclear treaty. Guterres used an address to the UN’s Conference on Disarmament to warn that one of the cornerstones of diplomatic achievement over the last half century – arms control – was in “grave danger,” AFP reported. “I will be blunt. Key components of the international arms control architecture are collapsing,” the UN chief said. The US has begun the process of withdrawing from the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) treaty, prompting Russia to announce its own withdrawal. “We simply cannot afford to return to the unrestrained nuclear competition of the darkest days of the Cold War,” Guterres said. “I call on the parties to the INF Treaty to use the time remaining to engage in sincere dialogue… It is very important that this treaty be preserved.”