Guterres calls on the US and Russia to resume full implementation of their latest nuclear weapons treaty

MADRID, 22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, has called on the United States and Russia to resume full implementation of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), after Russian President Vladimir Putin announced on Tuesday the suspension of Russian participation in it.

"States and Russia should resume full implementation of New START without delay. New START has brought peace not only to the United States and Russia but also to the entire international community," said the spokesman for the United Nations Secretary General, Stéphane Dujarric, speaking to the press,

According to Guterres' spokesman, "a world without nuclear weapons control is much more dangerous and unstable, with potentially catastrophic consequences", which is why he has reiterated the need to spare no effort in returning to dialogue.

"It is vital that high-level engagement between the world's two most powerful nuclear powers continue and that is why we call for the resumption of full implementation by all parties of the New START Treaty," Dujarric said in statements to the media.

President Putin announced on Tuesday the suspension of the nuclear weapons treaty signed with the United States, clarifying that it is not an "abandonment" of the agreement and alleging that the country "must be prepared to carry out nuclear tests if the United States takes them to corporal first".