The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, regretted on Friday the slow pace in the negotiation process for the establishment of a safety zone around the Ukrainian nuclear power plant in Zaporijia.
In a statement following two days of contacts in the Russian Federation, which has occupied that center for almost a year since the invasion of Ukraine began, Grossi said: “I remain hopeful that that zone will be established, although it should have been faster. For the sake of nuclear safety in Ukraine and beyond, I will continue my efforts until it becomes a reality.”
On Thursday, Grossi met with the general director of Russia’s nuclear agency, Rosatom, Alexey Likhachev, after which he warned that “unfortunately, the situation remains very fragile and unstable”.
The director general of the IAEA was last in Moscow in December 2022 when he met Likhachov.
In January, Grossi traveled to Kiev, where he met Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to discuss the security situation in Zaporijia and the deployment of IAEA missions to other nuclear power plants in the country.
The operation of the nuclear power plant continues to be guaranteed by Ukrainian technicians that the Russians integrated into an entity controlled by Rosatom, following Russia’s September 2022 annexation of Zaporijia, which is considered illegal by Ukraine and Western allies.
The factory has been the target of periodic bombings, for which Moscow and Kiev are mutually responsible.
The IAEA has proposed establishing a demilitarized zone around the nuclear power plant, where the UN agency had a permanent presence last year, but there is still no agreement between the parties.
Source: DN
