The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, will visit Moscow this week to negotiate the formation of a security zone around the Zapoirijia nuclear power plant, the Russian government confirmed on Monday.
“I can confirm that [a visita] will take place this week,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Serguei Ryabkov, quoted by Russia’s TASS news agency.
Ryabkov added that Moscow is looking forward to a “deep and professional” discussion with the head of the IAEA.
The UN nuclear agency, based in Vienna, also confirmed its director-general’s visit to the Russian capital.
A spokesman for the agency told the Efe news agency that Grossi “plans to visit Moscow this week to continue his already ongoing consultations and to establish a nuclear protection and security zone around the Zaporijia power station,” located in the southeast of Ukraine and under the control of the Russian Armed Forces since March 2022.
In turn, Riabkov indicated that the discussion in the safety zone around the factory will be the “main theme” of Grossi’s vision.
The head of the IAEA was last in Moscow in December 2022, when he met Aleksei Liyachiov, head of Russia’s Rosatom nuclear agency.
In January, Rossi traveled to Kiev, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, to discuss the security situation in Zaporijia and sending IAEA missions to other nuclear power plants in the country.
According to the organization, there were again numerous explosions in the area around the nuclear power plant at the end of January.
Grossi previously indicated that evidence of combat activity near the plant underlines the vital importance of reaching an agreement for the rapid implementation of a nuclear safety buffer zone around Zaporijia.
This protection zone would help protect the plant and ensure it doesn’t become a military target, or attacks are not launched from near the facilities, he said.
The plant’s six reactors are still out, but two are capable of supplying steam and heat to the plant and the neighboring town of Energodar.
The plant also receives external electricity needed for essential safety functions, according to the IAEA, which has a team of observers at the plant.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
Source: DN
