As the “risks of escalation” in Ukraine increase, the world is heading “with eyes wide open” towards “a broader war”, the UN secretary general expressed alarm on Monday before the General Assembly.
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War in Ukraine, climate crisis, extreme poverty… “We began the year 2023 with our sights set on a convergence of challenges never seen in our lifetime,” said Antonio Guterres.
The group of scientists managing the doomsday clock also recently estimated that humanity has never been so close to the end of the world, now at 90 seconds before midnight, he recalled, including seeing an alarm signal.
“We need to wake up and get to work,” he insisted, listing the pressing issues for 2023.
At the very top of this list, the war in Ukraine.
“The prospects for peace keep shrinking. The risks of further escalation and carnage continue to grow.”
“I’m afraid the world is not sleeping like a sleepwalker on towards a wider war, but I’m afraid it’s actually doing it with its eyes wide open,” he said, before saying worry about other threats to peace, from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to Afghanistan via Burma, the Sahel or Haiti.
