Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday that Russia is doing everything possible to ensure the safe operation of Ukraine’s Zaporozhye nuclear power plant and to ensure that the inspectors from the International Atomic Energy Agency who have arrived can complete their tasks.
Speaking at an event in Moscow, Lavrov said: “We are doing everything we can to keep this station safe and to operate safely. And so that the mission would realize all its plans there.”
In March, Russian troops seized the station, which has come under frequent shelling in recent weeks, raising fears of a nuclear holocaust.
Russia and Ukraine accuse each other of bombing the facility.
The Russian Defense Ministry said that Moscow is ready to ensure the safety of the mission of the International Atomic Energy Agency to the Zaporozhye facility, noting that the situation in the vicinity of Zaporozhye is “difficult”, but is under control.
For his part, the director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said his team would continue to visit the Zaporozhye nuclear power plant in Ukraine, despite reports of strikes on the road leading to the plant.
“We are aware of the current situation. There were hostilities, including this morning, a few minutes ago,” Grossi told reporters from the city of Zaporozhye, about 120 km from the station, before the convoy left for this object. .
He added: “We will immediately begin assessing the security situation at the plant.”
His comments came as Ukrainian authorities on Thursday accused Russia of bombing the city of Enerhodar, home of the Zaporozhye station, and Moscow confirmed that “saboteurs” sent in by Kyiv were trying to seize the site.
Before his team set out to cross the front line into Russian-controlled territory, Grossi said: “We understand that there is a gray area where the last Ukrainian line of defense is located and the first line of the Russian occupation forces begins, and where the risks are high.”
He continued, “I think we should move forward with this. We have a very important task that we must complete.”
