Time.news – The director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Rafael Grossi, who is participating in the international conference “Mediterranean Dialogues” in Rome, said that negotiations are underway to organize a new meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. According to Grossi, the head of the Kremlin is aware of the situation at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant. “I don’t know exactly when, we will continue to negotiate: obviously, I will need to meet him again,” he said.
In another interview, quoted by Tass, Grossi had said he hoped that a solution for the safety of the nuclear power plant would be found by the end of the year, not excluding upcoming meetings with Putin and with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky. The number one of the United Nations atomic energy agency has already met the Russian leader on 11 October and today reiterated that he considers these meetings very important for the safety of the plant which has been under Russian control since the early stages of the war in Ukraine.
On ‘s request, IAEA this week carried out a nuclear safety & security mission to the South Ukraine Nuclear Power Plant as part of a suite of missions to the country’s #NPPsin efforts to help prevent a nuclear accident during the current armed conflict.https://t.co/sjZ4mQ8TXI pic.twitter.com/AlGvJklLo2
— IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency ⚛️ (@iaeaorg)
December 2, 2022
Grossi recalled that he is working “on a protection zone around the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant to avoid attacks”. “We are – he explained – in the midst of negotiating with the Ukrainians and the Russians. This is why I have already been to Russia once and I plan to return soon, as in the Ukraine”. The goal, he adds, is “to get to a good result. Putin is willing to work with me, he told me, then we have to see“, but “you need support from both sides, otherwise it won’t work”.
“The danger is imminent because almost every day there are attacks or interruptions in the electricity supply,” he explained speaking of the situation in Zaporizhzhia. “The plant, which is the largest in Europe, is starting to operate with emergency generators”, added the Argentine diplomat, an “unprecedented” situation, “completely unacceptable for an industrial plant of this size and with the nuclear material found there”.