Tuesday, October 11, 2022

HE LIES
Putin assures Grossi that they are ready for dialogue to address the situation at the Zaporiyia plant

Daniel Stewart - TODAY
Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday at a meeting with the head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, in the Russian city of St. Petersburg that they are ready to discuss the situation at the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant.


Russian President Vladimir Putin and IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi - -/Kremlin/dpa© Provided by News 360

The Russian president affirmed to Grossi that Moscow "is open to dialogue" on the future of the plant, located in Zaporiyia, one of the regions annexed after the recent referendums held in the areas occupied by Russian troops, together with Donetsk, Lugansk and Kherson.

For his part, Grossi has expressed concern about the situation at the nuclear power plant, as the situation is "increasingly dangerous, precarious and challenging", with "frequent military attacks that can also threaten nuclear safety".

"Now more than ever, during these extremely difficult times, a protection zone must be established around the Zaporiyia nuclear power plant. We cannot afford to waste any more time. The stakes are high," he remarked, according to an IAEA statement.

During the meeting, Putin also stressed that there are "elements of excessively dangerous politicization of everything related to nuclear activity", a "dangerous" rhetoric that we should try to reduce in order to cooperate with each other "in a normal situation", despite "all the turbulence and complex processes taking place on the world stage".

"We have always advocated that all states have equal access to the benefits of peaceful atomic energy and, at the same time, we believe that everything possible should be done to limit the spread of military (use) nuclear energy," he said, according to the TASS news agency.

Thus, Putin recalled that "Russia has not only always supported the IAEA, but has been at the origins" of the UN nuclear agency since 1957. "In many respects, Russia occupies a leading position in the world in the field of nuclear development," he added.

In recent hours, Russia has intensified its attacks on several cities, including Kiev, but also Lviv, Zaporiyia, or Kharkov, in response to what Russian President Vladimir Putin called a "terrorist attack" in connection with Saturday's destruction of the Kerch bridge, which connects Russia to the Crimean peninsula.

No comments: