UNITED NATIONS, September 28. /TASS/. All nuclear powers should once again reiterate their commitment to avoid using nuclear weapons and to eventually eliminate them, UN Under-Secretary-General for Political and Peacebuilding Affairs Rosemary DiCarlo said.

"We have also heard alarming rhetoric regarding the use of nuclear weapons. This is unacceptable," she said. "Let me reiterate the Secretary-General’s appeal for all nuclear-armed states, including the Russian Federation, to recommit to the non-use and progressive elimination of nuclear weapons."

Russian President Vladimir Putin said in his televised address to the nation last week that Washington was pushing Kiev towards moving military actions to Russian territory, with "nuclear blackmail" coming into play. As the president explained, the issue is not only about the shelling of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, which risks a nuclear disaster, but also about statements made by certain high-ranking representatives of leading NATO states on the possibility and acceptability of using weapons of mass destruction, namely nuclear weapons against Russia.

"I would like to remind those resorting to such statements against Russia that our country also has various weapons of destruction, and some [of our] components are even more up-to-date than those of NATO member countries. And when the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will obviously use all the means we have at our disposal to protect Russia and our people," he warned adding "This is not a bluff.".