Russia-Ukraine crisis: Threat to global security today is 'higher' than during Cold War, warns UN

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that a small mistake or miscommunication between major powers could have catastrophic consequences.

File Photo (Reuters)

Munich: With East-West tensions at their highest point since the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Friday the world is probably a more dangerous place now than during the Cold War.

Guterres warned that a small mistake or miscommunication between major powers could have catastrophic consequences.

"I am often asked whether we are in a new Cold War. My answer is that the threat to global security now is more complex and probably higher than at that time," Guterres said in his opening speech at an annual security conference in Munich.

During the decades-long standoff between the Soviet Union and the United States in the 20th century, there were mechanisms that enabled the protagonists to calculate risks and use back-channels to prevent crises, Guterres said.

"Today, many of those systems no longer exist and most of the people trained to use them are no longer here with us."

But he said he still believes the buildup of Russian troops around Ukraine won't result in a military conflict.

"I urge all parties to be extremely careful with their rhetoric. Public statements should aim to reduce tensions, not inflame them," Guterres said.

Geopolitical divides continue to deepen as conflicts proliferate & become more fragmented.

At the Munich Security Conference I urged leaders to back a surge in diplomacy for peace, a surge in political will for peace, and a surge in investment in peace. https://t.co/cDXYTVirxB — António Guterres (@antonioguterres) February 18, 2022

While US Vice President Kamala Harris, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy were attending the Munich Security Conference, there was no senior official present from Russia.