US backs UN call for ‘immediate global ceasefire’ during coronavirus pandemic

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The United States backed a United Nations call for an “immediate global ceasefire” on Tuesday as the world grapples with the coronavirus pandemic.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Monday that “the fury of the virus illustrates the folly of war” and “that is why today, I am calling for an immediate global ceasefire in all corners of the world: It is time to put armed conflict on lockdown and focus on the true fight of our lives.”

Guterres proclaimed that “our world faces a common enemy: COVID-19.”

“The virus does not care about nationality or ethnicity, faction, or faith. It attacks all relentlessly. Meanwhile, armed conflict rages on around the world,” the U.N. leader said.

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The National Security Council’s official Twitter account chimed in Tuesday morning to support the U.N. call for a worldwide halt to the fighting.

“The United States hopes that all parties in Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Libya, Yemen, and elsewhere will heed the call of Antonio Guterres,” the NSC tweeted. “Now is the time for peace and cooperation.”

There were 396,249 confirmed coronavirus cases around the world as of Tuesday morning and at least 17,241 deaths tied to the virus, according to the latest reading from the Johns Hopkins University tracker. In the U.S., there have been 46,485 cases, which have resulted in 591 deaths.

Even as the novel coronavirus pandemic has hit the world hard, the U.S. has not been able to extricate itself from old conflicts.

The Taliban has continued to conduct deadly attacks against the Afghan army as the U.S. works to implement a peace deal between a fractured Afghan government and the group that harbored al Qaeda.

In Iraq this month, two Marine Raiders were killed in a battle with Islamic State fighters, and Iranian-backed groups killed two other U.S. soldiers, which was followed by retaliatory airstrikes by the U.S.

The next day, Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif demanded Western aid and the easing of U.S. sanctions imposed on the regime. But Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, rejected U.S. offers of help and suggested the coronavirus was a bioweapon.

Chinese diplomats have also engaged in a messaging campaign to blame the COVID-19 virus outbreak on the U.S. military. Russian President Vladimir Putin backed Chinese President Xi Jinping in the war of words with the U.S., while Western nations say Russia continues its own disinformation efforts.

The World Health Organization concluded that the COVID-19 virus outbreak’s initial “epicenter” was in Wuhan, China, and its investigative report in February tied the earliest cases to a “zoonotic source” at the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market.

In January, the Trump administration announced travel restrictions from China, and President Trump implemented restrictions on Iran in late February. Trump announced a European travel ban in March and followed up by declaring a national emergency.

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