Foreign minister João Gomes Cravinho said on Friday that nuclear safety in Russia is an “absolute responsibility” of Moscow at a time when concerns are growing over the Zaporijia plant, under Russian control in southern Ukraine.
“We should not speculate on nuclear instability. It is Russia’s absolute responsibility to ensure that it has control over its nuclear weapons and is not irresponsible in their use or security,” João Gomes Cravinho told Lusa by telephone from Vienna, where he met today with the Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, and his Austrian counterpart, Alexander Schallenberg.
On Thursday, Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council secretary Oleksii Danilov said Ukrainian authorities are preparing for “any scenario” at the Zaporijia nuclear power plant, the largest in the world, which has been under control of Moscow’s troops for months. , while training exercises for a possible nuclear disaster were taking place.
The Zaporijia region has been at the center of the fighting since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year.
For the head of Portugal’s diplomacy, Russia’s responsibility for its nuclear facilities is “a requirement that must continue to be met” as the Kremlin faces an internal crisis prompted by last weekend’s riot led by the leader of the mercenary group Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin.
Wagner’s leader’s military columns broke off the mission 200 kilometers from Moscow province to depose Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu and Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov, but not President Vladimir Putin.
João Gomes Cravinho declined to speculate on developments in Russia and the possibility of nuclear weapons escaping Moscow’s control, but left a warning.
“If Russia is internally unstable, it can only be attributed to President Putin and the sooner we get out of this Russia-created situation, which is the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine, the easier it will be to achieve international stability and also stability within Europe. from Russia,” he thought.
The foreign minister states that the invasion of Ukraine “endangers the entire international order, the European security order, the international legal order, etc., and of course also has consequences that are difficult to foresee in the internal context”. [russo]from the beginning”.
Portugal’s position on this issue, he stressed, remains unchanged: “The goal is simply to defend the territorial integrity of Ukraine. “It is not part of our support to Ukraine to prevent any kind of change in conditions in Russia. to defend”.
Regarding the meeting with the IAEA leader, João Gomes Cravinho recalled that Rafael Grossi has already made eight trips to Ukraine since the beginning of the invasion and that the threats hanging over the factory in Zaporijia and the need for Russia and Ukraine to a set of principles not to endanger the nuclear power plant.
“Straight away [a central nuclear] it’s in a state of, say, hibernation, it’s not producing electricity, but the engines are working to keep the plant in a state where it can resume production after some time,” despite being close to the current front line .
This circumstance constitutes “an enormous danger” and the head of Portuguese diplomacy expressed his appreciation for the work done by Grossi and his IAEA team as “a deterrent effect” leading the belligerents to avoid any type of nuclear accident in Zaporijia. to avoid. , respecting the principles to which they have committed themselves.
Cravinho also discussed with Grossi the cooperation that Portugal is developing with the IAEA on the medical use of nuclear technology, involving other countries such as Angola, a project that Portugal plans to strengthen.
In his talks with his Austrian counterpart, the head of Portuguese diplomacy first pointed to the strengthening of bilateral relations, namely by setting up regular meetings at Directors-General level to strive for convergence of European and international positions and to economic level. where he can there are “similar interests” in the respective business sectors.
The minister gave as an example that Portugal has little presence in Central and Eastern Europe, especially in the Balkan countries, where Vienna is very strong, and Austria, on the other hand, has little importance in Africa, which opens the way to “working on business projects usual”.
The two ministers also discussed the relationship between the European Union (EU) and Latin America, the upcoming summit with the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States and the agreement with Mercosur.
“It was a very interesting subject, because Austria is a country that has shown some restraint with regard to that agreement and on the one hand I was able to try to make my Austrian counterpart aware of the geopolitical importance of this agreement,” the ruler described, claiming the response from Alexander Schallenberg to agree to the geopolitical relevance of this agreement, despite its internal constraints.
João Gomes Cravinho hopes that this exchange of views can create a good atmosphere of trust on both sides and “helps find a solution to this agreement, which is so important for the EU”.
Source: DN
