The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin on Tuesday told United Nations nuclear power plant chief Rafael Grossi he was “open to dialogue” on Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in region which is controlled by Moscow’s forces in the southern region of Ukraine.
In televised remarks with Grossi ahead of their meeting in Saint Petersburg, Putin said to the IAEA chief he was “ready to talk about all issues of mutual interests or cause for concern, for example, regarding the ongoing situation around the Zaporizhzhia power plant” and said he was “open to this dialogue.”
Meanwhile, a statement by the IAEA released after the meeting said that Grossi was due to meet with the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv “later this week” for further talks regarding Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant.
Grossi had met Zelensky last week for talks on setting up a nuclear safety & protection zone across Ukraine’s Russian-held Zaporizhzhia plant.
In past few weeks, Grossi had been “engaging in intense negotiations with both Ukraine & the Russian Federation to agree as well as implement” such a zone “as soon as possible,” the IAEA statement reads.
As per the Grossi, the situation around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant has “become more dangerous, precarious & challenging,” with frequent military attacks posing threats to nuclear safety as well as security.
Grossi further added that, “We can’t afford to lose any more time. The stakes are high, adding that everything required to be done to evade a nuclear accident.
Moscow & Kyiv have traded blame for months over shelling near the Russian-held facility that sparked fears of a nuclear disaster.