Zelenskyy and UN Secretary-General agree framework for possible nuclear watchdog mission to Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
EUROPEAN PRAVDA – THURSDAY, 18 AUGUST 2022, 21:09
President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine said that he has agreed the framework for a possible visit by an International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) mission to the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP) with UN Secretary-General António Guterres following their meeting in Lviv.
Source: European Pravda, quoting Interfax Ukraine
Details: During a press briefing following the meeting, Zelenskyy said: "Nuclear security is an indisputable priority for the entire world… Mr Secretary-General and I have agreed the framework for a possible visit by an IAEA mission to the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant, in a legal manner and via territories that have not been captured by the occupiers."
Guterres had earlier called for the zone around the ZNPP to be demilitarised and has said that inflicting any damage on the power plant would be a "suicidal" act.
Following the meeting in Lviv, he said that the UN Secretariat believes that the organisation has sufficient material and technical resources to facilitate the IAEA mission and ensure the security of its transit from Kyiv to the power plant in Zaporizhzhia if both Ukraine and Russia agree to the IAEA visit to the ZNPP.
Background: On 18 August, President Zelenskyy held a bilateral meeting with President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan of Turkey, and a tripartite meeting with Erdoğan and Guterres.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the presence of Russian troops at the ZNPP poses grave threats and called for the plant to be demilitarised and IAEA access to be facilitated as soon as possible.
42 countries have called on Russia to withdraw its troops from the ZNPP, stressing that their presence there poses a threat to the safe operation of the nuclear plant.
Journalists fight on their own frontline.
Support Ukrainska Pravda or become our patron.
