According to Mihail Ulyanov, who represents Russia at the IAEA, the inspectors’ visit could take place in early September.
the president of Russia Vladimir Putin and the President of France Emmanuel Macron believes that inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) should visit the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant as soon as possible. This was said by the Kremlin on Friday after the telephone conversation between the presidents.
In a separate statement, the French president’s office said Macron supported sending IAEA inspectors to the nuclear power plant under the terms agreed by the UN and Ukraine.
According to France, Putin has agreed to the inspectors traveling to the power plant via Ukraine.
Friday’s phone conversation between Putin and Macron was the first in almost three months. The presidents are scheduled to discuss the issue again in the coming days.
acting as Russia’s representative in the IAEA Mikhail Ulyanov according to the matter is currently being discussed with the IAEA Secretariat, said the British Broadcasting Corporation BBC (switch to another service).
Uljanov said that negotiations will continue next week on, among other things, the number of inspectors. According to Uljanov, the inspectors’ visit could take place in early September.
In recent weeks, there have been several attacks in the area of the power plant, for which Ukraine and Russia have blamed each other. The situation has raised fears of a possible nuclear accident.
Russia has not agreed to demilitarize the nuclear power plant
Russia has refused international demands to demilitarize the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant. According to the Ukrainian nuclear power company Energoatom and the Ukrainian military intelligence, Russia is instead preparing to organize a large-scale “provocation” at the nuclear power plant.
This week, both Ukraine and Russia have accused each other of preparing provocations at the facility.
The liberation of the nuclear power plant from the Russian forces has been demanded, among other things, by the Secretary General of the United Nations Visiting Ukraine António Guterres.
According to the BBC, the president of Turkey Recep Tayyip Erdoğan has promised to discuss the safety situation of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant with Russian President Vladimir Putin.