6 Dec 2022 12:44

Russian Foreign Ministry, Rosatom interacting with IAEA on Zaporozhye NPP security, progress made in this area - deputy FM

MOSCOW. Dec 6 (Interfax) - Russia is in contact with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in regard to the security of the Zaporozhye Nuclear Power Plant, and progress has been made in this area, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said.

"Together with Rosatom and other relevant agencies, we are in contact with the IAEA Secretariat and I believe there is progress in this area and our work has a certain prospect," Ryabkov told reporters on Tuesday.

As to whether IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi may visit Russia by the end of this year, he said that depends not only on Russia.

"Several rounds of contacts with the IAEA director general and the IAEA Secretariat have fostered the elaboration of a certain system to enhance the security of the Zaporozhye NPP and to rule out what has been happening in recent months, i.e. the Ukrainian army attacks that jeopardize the lives and security of personnel and the population of the nearby city of Energodar, as well as nuclear safety of this facility, which is the largest nuclear power plant in Europe," Ryabkov said.

If Moscow learns "there is a chance for reasonable establishment of such a system at the Zaporozhye power plant, and this includes control, proper verification of the Ukrainian army's inability to conduct such strikes, then I think it will be possible to rapidly agree on the dates, the time of [Grossi's] trip to the Russian Federation," he said.