UN warns against 'splitting world in two’ as G7 leaders reinforce division

United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres has cautioned G7 nations to refrain from the “division of the world into two” Cold-War-style blocs aligned with either the US or China, while the G7 bloc reinforced the division by accusing China and Russia over nuclear weapons.

“I believe it is very important to avoid the division of the world into two, and it’s very important to create bridges for serious negotiation,” Guterres was quoted as saying by Japan’s Kyodo News.

Guterres called for “active dialogue and cooperation” between the G7 nations and China on matters of climate change and development.

Referring to the atomic bomb survivors, known in Japan as hibakusha, Guterres also urged the world for nuclear disarmament.

"They should be seen by everybody in the world as a fundamental reason to consider nuclear disarmament a priority," he said.

Throughout recent years, Guterres has frequently warned of a brewing Cold War between the West and China.

The Secretary General's remarks against the division of the world came on the heels of a joint statement by the G7 bloc defending the divide, as it targeted the nuclear weapons of Moscow and Beijing.

The statement accused Russia of “irresponsible nuclear rhetoric” and “undermining of arms control regimes,” while describing China’s modernization of its nuclear arsenal as “a concern to global and regional security.”

'Radioactive cloud' from destroyed depleted uranium shells threatening Europe: Russia

Russian security chief has warned of a "radioactive cloud" engulfing Europe, referring to the destruction of depleted uranium shells in Ukraine.

So far, the US is the only country in the world to actually use nuclear weapons on 6 and 9 August 1945, when the US detonated two atomic bombs over the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki killing between 129,000 and 226,000 people, most of whom were civilians.

Russia in March had warned against the UK's decision to provide depleted Uranium ammunition to Ukraine would see similar consequences.

“Today it became known that Great Britain, through the mouth of the deputy head of the Ministry of Defense of this country, announced not only the supply of tanks to Ukraine, but also shells with combined uranium,” Putin had said in March.

“I would like to note that if all this happens, Russia will have to react accordingly. I mean, that the collective West is already starting to use weapons with a nuclear component,” he added.

On March 20, the UK confirmed that it will send ammunition containing depleted uranium to Ukraine.

Last week, Russian forces reportedly struck a warehouse containing British-supplied depleted uranium shells in the city of Khmelnytskyi, sending a “radioactive cloud towards Western Europe,” Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolay Patrushev stated on Friday.

Moscow also blamed Kiev for attempting to cause a nuclear disaster by shelling the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant on Russian territory. The G7 leaders’ statement condemned Russia for taking control of the plant, while making no mention of Ukraine’s attacks on it.

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