The CEO of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)Rafael Grossi, explained this Thursday that there is an agreement in principle with Ukraine and Russia for the agency to carry out a inspection of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant that could be carried out “in the next few days”.
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“There is an agreement in principle and we are working on the details. The hypothesis of an inspection is imminent,” Grossi said in an interview with France 24, where he specified that the work could be carried out in a few days.
According to Grossi there have been “political doubts and objections” on both sides, but there is no blockade.
“I think we are very close to the two sides accepting the visit. We cannot risk, in addition to the drama of war, a nuclear accident,” added the official, who held a meeting in Paris with French President Emmanuel Macron.
There is an agreement in principle and we are working on the details. The hypothesis of an inspection is imminent
The French leader indicated last weekend, after a telephone conversation with his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, that Russia would be in favor of an IAEA inspection.
The Russian army controls the plant, the largest in Europe, since last March, but the Ukrainian operators continue to work on it, in a context of bombing and stress that worries the international community, starting with the IAEA.
“The military operations have worsened, the plant has become an objective that has not been exempt from maneuvers for the military,” Grossi recalled, insisting that the agency “must go.”
He himself will lead the mission in which several technical specialists will participate to make repairs, restore the transmission systems that have been damaged and ensure a continuous presence of the agency to help stabilize the plant where, he recalled, “the risks are real”.
He pointed out that there is a contradictory narrative between Ukraine and Russia but, he insisted, his objective is not to make “a judgment of intentions” but “to determine what happens.”
“There are mutual accusations, that is why the presence of the agency is important,” he stressed. Now “everyone is in favor, it has been a matter of perseverance,” added Grossi, who urged to be “optimistic.”
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Russia accuses kyiv of continuing to bomb Zaporizhia
Meanwhile, Russia accused kyiv on Thursday of continuing to bomb the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, in southern Ukraine and occupied since the beginning of March by Russian forces, in addition to the city of Energodar, where the plant is located. the largest in Europe.
“Ukrainian troops continue to bombard the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant and the city of Energodar,” military spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in his daily war report.
And he maintained that during the last day the Ukrainian artillery hit “seven times with large-caliber weapons” the area of the nuclear power plant.
The shelling was carried out from the firing positions of the Ukrainian troops in the Nikopol, Marganets, Vyshetarasivka and Chervonogrigorovka areas, located on the right bank of the Dnieper River, opposite the nuclear power plant.
“The artillery of the Russian Armed Forces suppressed the power of the enemy attack by responding with fire,” Konashenkov said.
Russia and Ukraine have been accusing each other for weeks of bombing the territory of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, under the control of Russian forces since March 4.
The president of Ukraine, Volodimir Zelensky, accused Russia the day before the UN Security Council of “placing the world on the brink of a radioactive catastrophe” by having turned the plant “into a combat zone”.
According to Zelensky, Russia is carrying out a “provocation” there, bombing and sending “terrorists” to the area, thus threatening the whole of Europe and other neighboring regions.
France and the UN atomic agency are negotiating with Russia an inspection of the plant, a measure that kyiv supports and that Paris says has the backing of Russian President Vladimir Putin, according to French leader Emmanuel Macron.
Zelenski also supports a mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and asks that this UN agency assume “permanent control” of the installation.
This Thursday the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigú, assured his French counterpart, Sébastien Lecornu, that Russia will provide the necessary assistance to the IAEA inspectors.
He warned Paris that “the actions of the Armed Forces of Ukraine could disrupt the safe operation of the plant.”
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Two days ago, the Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, also discussed the conditions of a possible IAEA mission with his French counterpart, Catherine Colonna.
In addition, on Wednesday the head of the IAEA, Rafael Grossi, met in Istanbul (Turkey) with a Russian delegation headed by the head of the Russian state nuclear energy company, Rosatom, Alexei Lijachov, to discuss the possible inspection of the plant.
The Argentine also met with Macron on Thursday to discuss the IAEA’s “imminent visit” to the Zaporizhia nuclear plant.
EFE
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