Mankind is closer to an all-destructive nuclear war now than it was during the Cold War, a Nobel Peace Prize winning anti-nuclear weapons group has warned.

Axar.az reports citing Sputnik that, the head of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), Beatrice Fihn, outlined the chilling prospect as she was accepting the prestigious prize in Oslo on Sunday.

"The deaths of millions may be one tiny tantrum away…We have a choice, the end of nuclear weapons or the end of us," she said.

Fihn spoke about “a moment of panic,” which could wipe out entire cities and kill “millions of civilians.”

The risk of nuclear Armageddon is "greater today than during the Cold War," Fihn warned in a clear reference to the menacing war of words between Washington and Pyongyang with US President Trump threatening the North with total destruction, and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un threatening to respond in kind.

Tensions on the divided Korean peninsula have been rising following a series of nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang, which has been under hard-hitting UN sanctions over its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has firmly defended his nuclear-weapons program, calling it a “treasured sword” protecting the country’s independence against the hostile policies of the US and its regional allies, including South Korea and Japan.

Established in 2007 as a coalition of hundreds of non-governmental organizations (NGOs), the Geneva-based ICAN has made it its mission to highlight the humanitarian risk of nuclear weapons.