UNITED NATIONS, Feb 18 (APP): With tensions continuing to mount over the Ukraine crisis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that he still believed military conflict in Europe \u201cwill not happen\u201d \u2013 but if it did, \u201cit would be catastrophic\u201d.<\/p>\n
Addressing world leaders at the Munich Security Conference in Berlin — amid an intense spike in shelling in eastern Ukraine by opposing sides, and a concentration of Russian troops around the country\u2019s borders \u2013- the UN chief said that it was high time to \u201cseriously de-escalate\u201d the crisis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no alternative to diplomacy,\u201d he said, adding that \u201call issues, including the most intractable, must be addressed through diplomatic frameworks\u201d.<\/p>\n
Quoting from the United Nations Charter, which Guterres defended as a fundamental pillar of international law, he said that all nations \u201cshall settle their international disputes by peaceful means, in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered\u201d.<\/p>\n
All parties should be \u201cextremely careful with their rhetoric\u201d, the UN Secretary-General continued, after noting that the threat to global security today \u201cis more complex and probably higher\u201d than during the Cold War.<\/p>\n
During that era, Guterres explained that safeguards and safety checks existed to allow nations to prevent crises by using \u201cback-channels\u201d.<\/p>\n
Today however, \u201cmany of those systems no longer exist and most of the people trained to use them are no longer here\u201d, he insisted, while \u201cmiscommunication or miscalculation can make a minor incident between powers, escalate out of control\u201d.<\/p>\n
More than 100 foreign ministers were also due to attend the annual summit in the German city, although Russia\u2019s foreign minister was reportedly not in attendance.<\/p>\n
Turning away from Ukraine, the UN Secretary-General underlined the increased unpredictability and fragility of the global landscape, including in Yemen and Libya.<\/p>\n
\u201cCoups used to happen once every couple of years; in 2022, it\u2019s once every couple of weeks\u201d, he said, as he called for intractable geopolitical divides to be contained by \u201cmore effective collective security responses\u201d, for which the blueprint is outlined in Our Common Agenda.<\/p>\n
Turning to the worldwide threat of global terrorism, Guterres insisted that the situation in some African countries was \u201cunsustainable\u2026we need robust African peace enforcement and counter-terrorist operations, mandated by the UN Security Council under Chapter VII of the Charter, and with stable and predictable funding\u201d.<\/p>\n
Rising inequality, the climate crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic also threatened global security, the UN chief said, before urging all countries to step up support for solutions to these threats, as part of a surge in \u201cdiplomacy\u2026political will and\u2026investment for peace\u201d.<\/p>\n
Urgent actions that were needed now to these \u201cnon-traditional security threats\u201d included the full implementation of the Paris Agreement on climate change to keep 1.5 degrees alive, support for the the World Health Organization global vaccination strategy and global finance reform, \u201cto enable developing countries to access the resources needed to support their people\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
UNITED NATIONS, Feb 18 (APP): With tensions continuing to mount over the Ukraine crisis, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday that he still believed military conflict in Europe \u201cwill not happen\u201d \u2013 but if it did, \u201cit would be catastrophic\u201d. Addressing world leaders at the […]<\/p>\n
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