The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, warned that the world is one uncalculated step away from a devastating nuclear war, pointing out that it faces risks not seen since the Cold War era.

Guterres said, "We have been very lucky so far, but amid rising global tensions, humanity is just one misunderstanding or one slip away from nuclear annihilation."

Guterres made his statement at the opening of the conference of the states parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.

The treaty was signed in 1968, after what was known as the Cuban Missile Crisis, the event portrayed as the closest to causing a global nuclear war. Many countries later joined the treaty with the aim of preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

Almost all countries in the world have signed this treaty, including the five major nuclear powers.

The UN Secretary-General said that the "luck" that has helped the world avoid a nuclear catastrophe may not last, and urged the world to renew the push towards the complete disarmament of such weapons.