Proposals to create safety zone around Zaporozhye NPP not serious - Russian diplomat

MOSCOW. April 12 (Interfax) - The proposals to create a safety zone around the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) are not serious, Russia's permanent representative to Vienna-based international organizations Mikhail Ulyanov said.

"I saw something in the press and in oral pronouncements on this matter. In my view, this is not serious," Ulyanov said on Telegram.

"Nowadays, missiles, artillery, the same drones, they operate at large ranges. What size should this safety zone be for the plant to stop being a target of attacks? Huge," he said.

"Who is going to do this? This is not part of the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency] mandate. It has neither the capability nor legal grounds to fulfill such functions," Ulyanov said.

He also expressed skepticism about the UN's ability to create a safety zone around the NPP. "For all my respect for the UN, I am not sure this organization can play a due role in the current situation in the area of the Zaporozhye NPP," Ulyanov said.

"No, I don't think this is serious, all these ideas are contrived," he said.