Emmanuel Macron and Vladimir Putin agreed, during a phone call on Friday August 19, for a team from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to be sent to the Zaporijjia nuclear power plant in Ukraine. , according to the Élysée and the Kremlin.
M. Macron “expressed its support for the dispatch of an IAEA expert mission to the site as soon as possible”and Putin “indicated its agreement for the deployment of this mission”, according to a press release from the Elysée. The two leaders had not spoken since May 28, reports Politico.
The IAEA’s mission must take place “Based on UN assessment, under Ukrainian control. It will not go through Russia, as the Russians first demanded”, according to an Elysée official. The two presidents “will talk about this subject again in the coming days, after the exchange of information between the technical teams and before the deployment of the mission”said the Elysee.
Putin says he fears a “large-scale disaster”
Mr Putin accused the Ukrainian army of risking a “Massive Disaster” by bombing the Ukrainian power station.
These were the “first public remarks [du président russe] on the fighting raging near the Ukrainian nuclear power plant”observe the New York Times. “Repeating the position repeatedly expressed by senior Russian officials in recent days”continues the newspaper, the leader blamed Ukraine for the shelling of the plant, stating that this “creates the danger of a large-scale disaster that could lead to radiation contamination of vast territories.”
The tensions “have gone up a notch” around the plant over the summer, with both sides accusing each other of risking nuclear catastrophe by targeting the facility, traces the New York Times.
The six-reactor plant – the largest in Europe – has been under the control of Russian troops since March, but day-to-day operations are carried out by Ukrainian employees under the supervision of Russian Rosatom personnel also present on the site. Currently, recontextualizes Politicoonly two reactors are in operation, after bombings earlier this month led to the automatic shutdown of a third for safety reasons.
If the plant stopped producing electricity, explains The Guardian, its technicians would have to rely on backup power systems to keep nuclear reactors cool, increasing the risk of accidents. The daily recalls that it was a loss of electricity supply that led to the nuclear accident in Fukushima, Japan, in 2011.