Russia: Agreement with IAEA
Security zone around Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is getting closer
12/22/2022, 4:09 p.m
The Zaporizhia nuclear power plant has been contested for months. The shelling around the nuclear facility continues – and spreads terror. At least this problem could change soon, because Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency are largely in agreement to establish a safe zone.
According to Russia, it largely agrees with the initiative of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to establish a safety zone around the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. Moscow and IAEA chief Rafael Grossi were very close in their positions on the security zone, the federal Russian agency for atomic energy Rosatom said after a meeting of various representatives of Russian authorities with Grossi in Moscow. During his visit to Moscow, Grossi tried to ease the situation around the nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine, which was occupied by Russian troops and repeatedly shelled during the war.
The IAEA chief’s initiative envisages that Russia and Ukraine undertake to stop shelling the nuclear facility. At the same time, Russia is to withdraw heavy weapons from the nuclear power plant in order to de-escalate the situation.
In Moscow, the Argentine negotiated with representatives from Rosatom, the technical supervisory authority, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Russian National Guard, which has units stationed at the nuclear power plant. Grossi then spoke of an important round of negotiations. “It is critical that the zone focus solely on preventing a nuclear accident,” he tweeted.
While the IAEA Board of Governors called for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the nuclear facility in November, Grossi has made it clear several times that demilitarization in and around Zaporizhia would be difficult to implement and is therefore not included in his plan. Russia had rejected international calls for troops to be withdrawn from Europe’s largest nuclear power plant, but said it was willing to hold talks on the security situation.