Cooling pool units at the Zaporizhia NPP in Energodar. File photoUN, Aug 16 Kyiv cannot guarantee the safety of IAEA staff if they move from Ukrainian-controlled territory to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, Igor Vishnevetsky, Deputy Director of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told reporters.
"Guarantees from the Ukrainian side are ephemeral. What guarantees can be given if there are a bunch of units that are not subordinate to Kyiv,» Vishnevetsky said.
According to him, the arrival from the Ukrainian side suggests that Kyiv must ensure security. «What kind of security can we talk about when they shell ZNPP and Energodar. They just shell and cannot guarantee anything,» he pointed out. «Even if, relatively speaking, President Zelensky says that he guarantees, well, he does not control He does not guarantee that all mines will be removed along the front line by chance,» he said. The diplomat stressed that the lives of IAEA officials planning to visit the Zaporozhye NPP should not be endangered. According to him, the proposed by the Ukrainian side arrival at the ZNPP across the front line is a colossal risk for this international mission in any scenario. is going to personally lead this mission,» Vishnevetsky said. The diplomat pointed out that in June, when the IAEA trip to the Zaporizhzhya NPP was cancelled, the group included «representatives of countries other than the IAEA.» Therefore, the proposals that come from the UN are at least least surprising. Because it is not the UN that will provide security — not the UN in this case has a weighty word on how to carry out this mission,» he said. img src=»/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/c4fdce057dd52f0b2751ba2f831183e9.jpg» />The Zaporozhye authorities offered the IAEA delegation to come to the nuclear power plant through Russia. The development of routes for the delivery of the IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant, alternative to the Kyiv option, will be the subject of further negotiations, Igor Vishnevetsky, deputy director of the Department for Nonproliferation and Arms Control of the Russian Foreign Ministry, told reporters. «I think this is the subject further negotiations with the IAEA Director General and the leadership of the UN Secretariat. Such negotiations will most likely be held. Based on the results, it will be clear what other options are possible to visit,» Vyshnevetsky said. Earlier, the official representative of the UN Secretary General, Stephane Dujarric, said that the organization is ready to facilitate the trip IAEA to the Zaporozhye NPP through Kyiv, if Moscow and the Kyiv authorities agree to this. The permanent representative of the Russian Federation to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, told RIA Novosti that Russia considers Kyiv’s attempts, contrary to security reasons, to insist on the implementation of the IAEA mission to the Zaporozhye NPP through the line of contact of the parties absolutely irresponsible. The Zaporozhye NPP is located on the left bank of the Dnieper near the city of Energodar. This is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe in terms of the number of units and installed capacity. Six power units are installed at the station. ZNPP has been guarded by the Russian military since March. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation emphasized the justification for the Russian military to take protection of the power plant from the point of view of preventing leaks of nuclear and radioactive materials. Ukrainian troops regularly shell Energodar and the territory of the ZNPP. />Technical details of the visit of IAEA experts to ZNPP are being worked out