UN nuclear chief Grossi due in Russia for Ukraine talks
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi is due to arrive in Moscow on Thursday for talks on nuclear safety in Ukraine amid ongoing fighting, Russia’s deputy foreign minister said.
Atomic sites have been a key concern throughout the nearly one year-long conflict, with attacks around several facilities raising fears of a nuclear incident.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
Grossi visited Ukraine last month to dispatch International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) teams at several nuclear facilities, building on its mission at the Russian-controlled Zaporizhzhia plant near the frontline.
“The IAEA Director General is flying to Moscow today,” Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state-run RIA Novosti news agency.
“His trip is important. We have been discussing parameters for a nuclear and security protection zone for a long time,” he added.
The talks are “not easy,” Ryabkov said, according to RIA Novosti.
“We understand that the agency and its leadership are under external pressure,” he added.
Kyiv and Moscow have repeatedly blamed each other for shelling the Zaporizhzhia facility, Europe’s largest nuclear plant.
Russia has controlled the plant since March last year and claims to have annexed the surrounding Zaporizhzhia region.
Read more:
World must know the truth about Nord Stream explosions: Kremlin
European Parliament gives Zelenskyy standing ovation
France’s Macron, Ukraine’s Zelenskyy to travel together for EU summit
-
Russia: US demands to resume nuclear arms inspections ‘cynical’
Together, Russia and the United States account for about 90 percent of the world’s nuclear warheads. World News -
Russian spy service accuses Ukraine of deploying weapons at nuclear power stations
Russia’s foreign intelligence service (SVR) accused Ukraine on Monday of storing Western-supplied arms at nuclear power stations across the country.It ... World News -
Ukraine plant must be seized from Russia, Kyiv’s nuclear chief says
Ukraine must seize Europe’s biggest nuclear power plant back from Russia by force as efforts to establish a security zone around it evaporate, Kyiv’s ... World News -
Russia installs shield over Zaporizhzhia nuclear storage site
A shield is being set up over a storage site for spent nuclear waste at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southern Ukraine to protect it from ... World News