Moscow vows to facilitate IAEA mission to Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant

Record ID: 1686154

  • Title: Moscow vows to facilitate IAEA mission to Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant
  • Date: 25th August 2022
  • Summary: ENERHODAR, UKRAINE (AUGUST 22, 2022) (REUTERS) ZAPORIZHZHIA NUCLEAR POWER PLANT
  • Embargoed: 8th September 2022 16:37
  • Keywords: Duma IAEA Russia Ukraine crisis Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant statement
  • Location: MOSCOW, RUSSIA / ENERHODAR, UKRAINE
  • City: MOSCOW, RUSSIA / ENERHODAR, UKRAINE
  • Country: Russia
  • Topics: Conflicts/War/Peace,Europe,Military Conflicts
  • Reuters ID: LVA009067125082022RP1
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: PART AUDIO QUALITY AS INCOMING
    The U.N. nuclear watchdog is "very, very close" to being able to go to the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in Ukraine, Europe's largest, its chief Rafael Grossi told France 24 TV on Thursday (August 25).
    Asked if talks on gaining access to the facility had succeeded, in which case he has said his agency would go within days, Grossi said: "We are very, very close to that."
    Ukrainian staff are still operating the plant but the site has been controlled by Russian forces since early in the six-month war that began when Russia sent troops into Ukraine on February 24.
    Each side has accused the other of shelling the site, fuelling international concern about the potential for a nuclear accident.
    The leadership council of Russia's State Duma, the lower house of parliament, issued a statement on Thursday saying it confirmed Moscow's readiness to facilitate an IAEA mission "so the agency’s specialists can testify on the spot that there are threats posed as a result of constant Ukrainian attacks on the nuclear power plant, which are fraught with tragic consequences for all mankind."
    The leaders of Russian parliamentary factions blamed the United States and Britain of "sponsoring terrorism" by supplying Ukraine with weapons.
    They alleged that this is being done deliberately to provoke a nuclear disaster in Europe.
    Ukraine says it is Russia that is increasing the risk of a catastrophe by using the plant as a shield from which to direct attacks on surrounding territory.
    France said President Emmanuel Macron had spoken to the IAEA's Grossi and voiced his backing for the agency to send an expert mission.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2022. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
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